By Hassan Ibrahim Conteh
The water from a ground well in Joe Town stinks due to several neglect. The hand-pump, which was built by Mercy Ship, dates back to 2003. But due to lack of regular check up to sanitise the well, the water now smells as the metals stain underneath.
“Because chlorine and other water sanitisers are not available, the water is not pure for drinking anymore,” says Babah Conteh, a youth leader at Joe Town. Sometime ago, he recalls, “A group of white guys dropped off a vehicle, asking us for our source of drinking water.
“We showed them that the well is where we get water for drinking, cooking, and bathing.” As their hand-pump water is contaminated, the whole area now goes to a nearby school well to get purified water instead.
“We only use this well’s water to water our garden. Some still use the water to bathe,” explains Isatu Kamara, a trader who runs a kiosk close to the well.
She now has to hire children to fetch her water at the school ground, the only source of purified dug-out well in the environs. As part of our experiment, conducted on the Mercy Ship hand-pump, we noticed that the water actually produces a distinct odour. It is not safe for drinking or bathing as it scratches one’s body after washing.
“The group of those white guys applied chlorine in the well. They also changed the rustic equipment underground. After that we had purified water. But just after 4 years or so, we noticed that it smells bad again,” Conteh explains.
Lack of regular purification means persistent odour and the metals beneath stain, making the water thoroughly contaminated. The opening area above a raised round concrete was entirely closed.
The metallic lid, which used to have a padlock, was replaced with a cemented slab, a situation which results to more heat. The lack of ventilation, through the ground, robs off the taste, sweetness and freshness of the water.
Joe Town, just like many communities in the Western Area Rural District, particularly Koya Chiefdom, has seen repeated neglect by successive governments since time immemorial. Residents of this chiefdom predominantly depend on gardening, fishing, trading and palm wine tapping for their survival.
And in the midst of high illiteracy rate and poverty, young girls usually go into early marriage, hence become dropouts. It is fair to say that most of the communities in Koya Chiefdom practically do not have a Member of Parliament (MP).
“We are lacking many opportunities here. No pure water as you can see and even our community centre is in a very bad shape,” Conteh emphasises. He describes their community centre, in Joe Town, as a place fit for cattle, not for human beings.
Their MP, Mohamed Chernor Kabia, once a regular victor during elections, is now considered as a “stranger” in Constituency 106.
Mercy Ship constructed many hand-pumps within Malambay community but lack of maintenance has contaminated the wells.
Like the one in Joe Town, it’s only rotten on the inside but the outside is damp with a stinking, muddy smell. The concrete ground, where people stand, has given way, with cracks all over.
However, many health experts observe that cholera outbreaks are prevalent in environments, which are marked with poor sanitation and impoverished homes. Diseases, like body rash, dysentery and fever are likely caused by unpurified water.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 captures water and sanitation as key elements to securing the lives of individuals around the world. And Sierra Leone is a signatory to this instrument but its implementation of the said provision is one authorities are ignoring.
Ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation has received a global recognition. As the world sees 4.2 billion people live with NO ACCESS to safely managed sanitation, the campaign is apparently neglected by government authorities in Sierra Leone as evidenced in the poor states of the many wells built by NGOs.
Mercy Ship, an international humanitarian organisation, is one whose legacies have deteriorated over the years.
Sierra Leone’s Water Company (SALWACO), together with the Ministry of Health, is expected to provide pure drinking water and sanitation for provincial communities. SALWCO mainly limits its activities in rural areas. Part of their function is to build and maintain or renovate the already dysfunctional wells.
But, ironically and ridiculously, both institutions’ mandates are being outstripped by external and local NGOs. Mercy Ship had been helping many African countries in the area of sanitation by building hand-pumps, toilets and hospitals in most deprived communities such as Joe Town.
Most of Mercy Ship’s projects are also centred around housing, agriculture and horticulture. Between 2002 and 2006, most suburbs, deprived cities and communities benefited from Mercy Ship’s projects such as free health services, supply of agricultural seeds, livestock and construction of houses.
However, previous NGO support and humanitarian assistance to several communities in Sierra Leone have been overshadowed with repeated neglects by central government.
The scars of government neglects are noticed on the dilapidated wells, hospitals, schools and community centres built by NGOs in many communities in Sierra Leone.