By Steven Bockarie Mansaray in Kabala
Residents of Kabala in northern Sierra Leone and its environs have raised concerns over the shortage of water, reaching a crisis situation and causing sleepless nightsfor women and children who wake up at 4am to fill up their jerry cans.
Sallay Faroh said although a township water project was in progresspeople were in need of water. She called for the speedy completion of the project “because women and their children are tired of spending sleepless nights searching for water.It will be really good if the problem is solved as quickly as possible”.
The blogger ‘Equality For All: Sierra Leone’said on its website that “almost half the population [of Sierra Leone] doesn’t have access to clean and fresh water. Unprotected wells, ponds, rivers and other free standing water sources are where most Sierra Leoneans get their water”.
Majority of people in Kabala rely on wells as the main source of drinking water.Some said the few water wells in the township were almost getting dried up due to the increase in population and weather conditions. They also complained that even the few available wells were not well chlorinated and made drinkable because they were locally dug.
In November last year the government signed a US$17.7 million water supply grant with the Chinese to complete the second phase of the Kabala water supply project.
“The construction of the main service reservoir and reticulation works in Kabala town is 98% complete now and only awaits final technical auditing before being handed over to the Sierra Leone Water Company, SALWACO for use by people in that part of the country”, said the acting project coordinator, Cyril Hartinell-Bell.
Director General of SALWACO, Samuel Bangura, agreed that over the years Kabala had been one of those towns without access to safe drinking water.
He told reporters in Freetown that the project was meant to reduce the negative effects of water borne diseases and increase access to safe water. He, however, said that the provision of water must be accompanied by proper sanitation.
(C) Politico 23/04/14
