Abuja residents cry out over lingering water scarcity, beg for intervention

Some residents of Karu in the Abuja Municipal Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory on Thursday solicited government intervention on the lingering water scarcity in the area.

The residents during an interview said that the water scarcity had persisted for more than 14 months and yet no solution in sight.

The residents had earlier in January raised concerns on the situation, expressing disappointment in the inability of the FCT administration’s failure to address the problem.

They described the situation as disheartening as they struggled to find alternatives to the tap water.

A civil servant in the area, Chidimma Ugorgi, described the situation as overwhelming and taking too long to be addressed and wants the relevant authorities to come to their aid.

She stated, “The relevant authorities in the FCT should please, look into our plight and find a way to address it immediately because water is life and we need it to survive. If anyone had told me that this water issue will last this long and not be addressed, I would not have believed. We have used all available resources within our reach, yet it keeps getting worse.

“I used to fetch water from our neighbourhood’s well but that too, has suddenly become dirty. The colour is like that of palm wine and I can barely use it to bathe even after adding antiseptic to it. The only time I used it to bathe, it resulted in skin infection and that of my children, which unfortunately, cost me a lot to treat.’’

Mr Ugorgi said that she used two trucks of water in less than a week because of the heat.

According to her, the recent heat wave has made it more difficult to preserve water for a long time, I bought two trucks of water from the local vendors and it can barely last my family for a week.

“Sometimes I have to walk long distances to get water from a borehole near our community to cook and bathe, while we buy sachet water for drinking,” she said.

Similarly, another resident, Salisu Mohammed, described the situation as alarming, adding that the situation was putting untold hardship on residents.

Mr Mohammed, a laundry operator, said the lack of water supply had posed a great challenge to him and was almost putting him out of business.

“Water is the bedrock of my business, I need water to do everything, and my business cannot thrive without adequate water supply. If nothing is done to address this problem soon, I might run out of business. This will not be good for me because I am a family man and I have many responsibilities on my shoulders, ’’ Mr Mohammad said.

He pleaded with the FCT Water Board to look into the lingering situation and address it as a matter of urgency.

Another resident, a hair stylist, Ebere Ndubuisi, said that the situation had crippled many businesses in the area.

According to her, most hairdressing shops in the area had been shut down because of the high cost of running business, adding that the water scarcity was an additional cost.

“Some of my colleagues have closed their shops; while others have resolved to sell other stuff that is not water related. My business functions with water because if I am not washing someone’s hair, I am washing wigs and towels, so sourcing water has become really hectic and money consuming.

“I buy water of N2, 500 from water vendors daily and this is not helping my business. When I calculate how much I make at the end of the day, I realise that I make little or no profit at all. I hope the situation will be addressed soon so that things will return to normalcy. It has not been easy having to minimise use of water when you need it for basically everything at home or at your business place,” she said.

The FCT Water Board had said the water scarcity in some areas of the city was caused by a damaged pipeline.

The damaged pipeline is feeding a major water treatment plant in Usuma Dam, located in Bwari Area Council.

(NAN)