PHOTO: Panelists at Monday’s water conference
By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
The Country Representative of Water Aid – Liberia is recommending a socio-economic and political analysis to establish why more than 95% of Liberians still do not have access to pipe borne water despite international support to the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC).
Mr. Chu Selma said there is need to identify the problems in order to find the solutions.
A recent survey conducted by Water Aid – Liberia found that less than 5% of Liberians has pipe borne water.
“We need to identify the root causes of some of these problems and address them professionally”, Selma said.
Addressing a news conference at the weekend in Monrovia, he said the problems might be institutional, political or economic”.
The National Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Commission in collaboration with the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation holds a high level forum aimed at addressing the constant disruption of supply of pipe borne water.
The forum which takes place on Thursday March 4, 2021, will seek among others, to develop short, medium and long term solutions to the constant disruption of water supply to Monrovia and its environs, according to the WASH Commission’s Chief Executive Officer, Bobby Whitfield.
He told a news conference that the conferees will also discuss the state of water supply to other parts of the country and develop a strategy aimed a resolving the challenges.
“We do not want the public to think that we in government; especially the water and sanitation sector are sitting idly whenever there is disruption of water supply,” the WASH Commission Chief Executive Officer said.
According to him, the conference will bring together 60 people representing the government, local and international partners in the water and sanitation sector as well as community leaders.
Others, Whitfield said, will be drawn from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, the Monrovia City Corporation and civil society organizations in the WASH sector.
“Some of the international partners who will grace the discussion will be from the United Nations Children Fund, the World Bank and the African Development Bank among others .
Whitfield is therefore urging all personalities in the water and sanitation sector to grace the forum and participate in the deliberation aimed at addressing the problems hindering the smooth supply of pipe borne water in the country.
“We as a government view the problem of water shortage as a human rights issue and President George Weah attaches seriousness in resolving the difficulties in fetching especially in the wake of the outbreak of corona virus in the country.”
Also speaking, the Deputy Country Program Manager at the Cities Alliance, Senjovu Andrews, quoting a survey conducted by his organization that 80 percent of the underground water in urban areas is contaminated.
He added that people are not supposed to walk more than 15 minutes before accessing pipe borne drinking water in the contemporary world of which Liberia is a part.
The Cities Alliance Deputy Country Program Manager pointed out that some people spent more than three hours in some communities in accessing water in a day.
“If some people do not wake up early in the morning, they do not have access to water through the day,” he said; adding: “it is not supposed to be so in Liberia, where water is abundant.”
He stressed the need to have sustainable supply of pipe borne water to the public especially in urban settlements in several parts of the country in order to prevent water borne disease.