The Minister for National Planning and Monitoring, Richard Maru, announced that he is ready to bring to Parliament the Bill to establish the National Water Sanitation and Hygiene Authority by November 2018 . He made the announcement after a meeting with a World Bank team of regulatory and legal experts who are helping the Department of National Planning and monitoring through the WaSH PMU to develop the Drafting Instructions for the Draft Bill for the establishment of the NWSHA.
He emphasized the O’Neill-Abel Government’s commitment to providing safe, convenient and sustainable water and sanitation for all Papua New Guineans as outlined in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) Policy 2015-2030. “Establishing NWSHA is a critical aspect of the WaSH sector. We have been talking for far too long, especially when the policy was approved and launched by the same Government in 2015,” the Minister stated.
“The World Bank team has been consulting widely with relevant stakeholders like the State Solicitor’s and the First Legistlative Council to prepare the Bill for submission to NEC then to Parliament. They have also been consulting on major players in the sector like Water PNG, Eda Ranu and CEPA to review the current regulatory regime to identify and thus address issues arising from and their potential to affect the new NWSHA Bill,” he added.
Minister Maru said that he will be having a national stakeholders’ consultation workshop on the draft Bill by the end of July to ensure views from the relevant stakeholders are sought to come up with a well-researched, well-informed Draft Bill.
H concluded by stating, “Consultation with relevant stakeholders is a critical part of the legal process of Drafting Instructions for the Bill so we need to consult widely to ensure everybody’s views are taken on board and they are no issues when I present the final Bill to the Parliament in the November 2018 sitting.
