BY: Shallon S.Gonlor
NIMBA COUNTY — Women in Sehyi-Geh Town, Nimba County District#2 are decrying limited hand pump and the lack of safe drinking water in the area.
According to report, several residents of Sehyi-Geh are fetching water from creek for drinking, and cooking food as the only functioning hand pump in the town serves thousands of citizens.
Speaking to our reporter during a tour of the town recently, many of the women said Sehyi-Geh Town is currently lacked of safe drinking water, a situation they said is posing a life threat to women and children in the community.
Sehyi-Geh women intoned that since November 2023, the only functioning hand pump in the town has been off and on in supplying water to the community dwellers.
A condition the women lamented that is leaving the community women and children in search for safe drinking water miles away from the town.
Safe and readily available water is important for public health, whether it is used for drinking, domestic use, food production or recreational purposes.
Improved water supply and sanitation, and better management of water resources, can boost countries’ economic growth and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction.
Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis(a), typhoid and polio.
Absent, inadequate, or inappropriately managed water and sanitation services expose individuals to preventable health risks. This is particularly the case in Sehyi-Geh Town, Nimba County.
Oldma, Yalama Gbei spoke to our reporter, stating that the shortage of safe drinking water in the town is becoming alarming and wants government and her partners to aid Sehyi-Geh community in providing safe drinking water through the construction of multiple hand pumps in their town.
“I think the situation is really challenging,” said Yalama Gbei.
According to her, due to the lack of sufficient hand pumps, they are constrained to fetch water from creeks for drinking, cooking, and washing purposes, which poses a serious health risk.
She disclosed that few hand pumps that were constructed in town by some NGOs and community dwellers are damaged, something she said many othem now rely on untreated water from natural sources, such as bores, rivers, creeks, and springs.
“We are actually finding it difficult to get safe drinking water because most of our pumps are not functioning properly, therefore, many of us are using creeks water for drinking purposes”, Oldma Yalama Gbei said.
She is however appealing to government and humanitarian organizations for interventions, adding that the challenges are numerous.
“We have few hand pumps but they are insufficient and not functioning properly to supply the entire area with safe drinking water.” Yei explained.
