By Septimus Senessie in Eastern Kono District
After six weeks of operations in the eastern Kono district, management of the first water purification and wholesales company, Good Family, has formally launched its production facilities in Simbakoro, Nimikoro Chiefdom.
The programme manager of an international organisation working on water and sanitation in Bombali district, Inter Aid, described the quality of the water as being “up to international standard”.
Gamma Kite, an American, said, “We have done bacteriological and environmental tests and we have proven that the water is pure and safe for drinking and other domestic activities”.
She described the advent of “Pure Water” in Kono as “a blessing”, adding that most of cases of illness reported at the Kono government hospital were water-related. Even though she commended efforts by government to provide pure and accessible drinking water for the growing population in the country, she said only 34% were accessing it.
Gamma pointed out that government needed US$ 63 million to cater for the water needs of 74% of its population before 2015. “This is a huge sum of money,” she said, adding that with the intervention of private water companies across the country the government would be able to meet that target in 2015.
The environmental official attached to the government hospital in Koidu, Abubakar Kuyateh, also praised the quality of the water saying they had done the required test in their laboratory. He said they had certified the company to carry out their water business in the district.
The Chief Executive Officer for Good Family Water Company, Musa Fofanah, thanked the stakeholders of Nimikoro Chiefdom for their unflinching support to the project in their chiefdom.
