Water Crisis Hits Greater Banjul

The Independent (Banjul)
NEWS
August 9, 2004
Posted to the web August 10, 2004

By Lamin M. Fatty
Banjul

People in and around the Greater Banjul Area have been at their wits' end
to cope with a particularly serious water crisis, which left domestic
chores unattended to and offices literally grounded to a halt.

The shortage, which lasted for the whole of last week, also left women and
children trekking hundreds of metres from their homes to boreholes and
wells, where they had to wait in long and restless queues to fetch water.

The shortage was particularly harsh between August 4 and 5 when residents
in the Kanifing Municipality, the largest municipality in the country
trooped to Nawec's Serrekunda water tank in search of clean and safe
drinking water. Some of the worst affected areas include Serrekunda,
London, Tallinding, Churchill's Town, Latrikunda Mampatokoto, Wellingara,
Bundung and Bakau where residents who could find water to prepare their
meals had none to wash it down their stomachs after lunch. Coastal
settlement towns such as Tujereng, Tanji, Brufut and Tranquil were also
severely affected. In some areas like mainland Serrekunda, the shortage
lasted for more than seventy-two hours, leaving residents with no
alternative other than to get to their offices without their usual morning
baths. Domestic chores had to stay unattended to for more than three days
in some homes in Latrikunda Yiringanya, while in places like Ebo Town,
whole families were deprived of their lunch thanks to the problematic lack
of water to do the cooking. While Nawec, the nation's only utility company
responsible for the distribution of water to all Gambian homes,
conspicuously refrained from making any public statement explaining the
acute shortage, people living in Greater Banjul are expecting the shortage
to continue in the intervening weeks as unconfirmed reports allude to a
hitch in the company's distribution pipes. Meanwhile nonplussed residents
have been registering their complaints to The Independent.

"My family have been without water for two days. We have been reduced to
depending on well water to drink and cook and this is in a neighbouring
compound. This is a very serious situation and Nawec cannot claim that they
have not taken any notice of this harsh reality. The last few days have
shown the undeniable importance of water in our everyday lives" Adama
Badjie, a desperate housewife complained to The Independent.

Mrs. Fatoumatta Danso of Bakau Sanchaba also complained bitterly and placed
the blame squarely on Nawec for failing yet again to maintain much needed
services to the public. "This is a difficult situation for us and a very
embarrassing situation for Nawec which they should have foreseen" she
added. Mrs. Danso said for the past week they had trekked a long way to the
Bakau horticultural gardens in Mile Seven in order to access well water to
prepare midday meals, which most homes go without thanks to the water
shortage.

Another woman who preferred anonymity said one of her daughters had
suffered from a severe stomachache after drinking well water, which was
unsterilised. She said as a result of the unrelenting pressure on wells to
provide for many homes, the water had taken a reddish colouring, She said
if it was understandable for Nawec to fail in supplying the populace
regularly with electricity, their growing incapacity to supply water is
unforgivable and must be improved if the problem is not to be given any
chance of spreading across the whole country.

For Oustass Omar Gitteh the scarcity of water could seriously disrupt
Muslims in the practise of their religion. He noted the importance of water
to the human being and to the practise of the Islamic religion by its
adherents cannot be over-emphasised. "Water is what can make us worship our
lord, because it is water Muslims need to perform ablution.

Cleanliness is part of our faith and is impossible in the absence of water"
he pointed out matter-of-factly.

For Lamin Sabally "Nawec have no excuse for this crisis. Recently its board
contributed more than D2 million to the government to unnecessarily
celebrate the July 22 Revolution. It is very unfair to deny the people
basic necessities like water with lame excuses of lack of fuel to run the
pumping stations".

"I went to work without my usual bath. After my lunch later that day I had
no water to drink. I went to bed with my serious thirst not quenched," he
added. President Jammeh who is the Minister for Energy could not be reached
to explain the crisis.

When this reporter attempted to elicit a response from Nawec, he was
referred to the manager of its Water Division who was unavailable.

However an insider said the shortage has originated from a shortage of fuel
to run its pumping stations. According to him the tanks in those stations
are being treated with chemicals as part of the long process of preparing
the water to reach the level fit for human use.



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