Adama Bangura, an elder in First Street community in Kissy, east of Freetown, has said on Monday July 20, 2020, that residents lack pipe borne water which has led them to fetch water from a well that is contaminated because it is not properly protected.
She added that the well in question dries up after the rainy season but event during the rainy season the water is unhygienic as the well is easily contaminated.
She alluded to the proximity of the well to a gutter, adding that rubbish spills into the well because residents dump garbage in the gutter which is very closer to the well.
“Flies and other insects usually settle in the water causing contamination. We have talked to the community people to stop dumping rubbish into the gutter but they have not desisted. We are seriously affected here in term of pure drinking water,” Bangura emphasized.
She said a five-gallon Jerry can full of pure drinking water costs Le 1, 500 in the community, and so children in the community spend substantial time of the day seeking of sources from where they could fetch water for drinking.
“Sometimes our children are abused by men when they go out to get pure water for drinking. Sometimes they come home with no water, unless we buy bundle water. We have been doing every day. Recently we have had so many teenage pregnancies.”
She further condemned the lack of public toilet in the community which according to him has caused some resident to defecate in the gutters in the community.
She called on the government to help the community with a public toilet and pipe borne water.
By Ibrahim S. Bangura
23/07/2020. ISSUE NO: 7872