Water Minister Seeks First-Hand Information In Four Wards

The Minister of Water Resources, Momodu Elogima Maligie II together with staff of his Ministry have held a fruitful community meeting as a way of getting feedback on the dry season water projects.

The meeting which took place at Kabbasa Lodge on Thursday 29^th June was for ward 394,392, 393 and 391.

The Minister while addressing members of the constituencies  said water situation in this country is not an easy task for the government and its people.

He said in the provinces, the Ministry has 42 stations that have been installed. He spoke about how government plans was to build the Rogbere dam which should have served from the East end to central Freetown while Guma dam should have served the western area of Freetown.

He said the Rogbere dam project came to mind when President Koroma visited Nigeria where he saw such initiative but he said the Ebola epidemic and the dropped of the Iron Ore in the world market made things more difficult for them.

“It was not the dream for President Koroma to install water tanks but for people to get access to water right at their homes. The way people were suffering for water, it was personally painful to me.”

He pointed out that the 250 water tanks that were distributed are not enough but they are going to rolling out more tanks.

The Sector Coordinator and Operations Manager of the Dry Season Water Project, Mr. Joel Bernard Lawson revealed that the project is from February to June this year, that the days when government failed to provide services for the people are over, that water is a basic commodity intimating that the Guma Dam was constructed in 1961 to supply 300,000 residents in the city that has increased over the years to over 2 million.

Mr. Lawson further disclosed that man cannot live without water, that the young and energetic Minister was appointed only three years ago but has created impact within a short time and quoted the President as saying that he would die for youths because they are the future leaders who would develop the country.

“The Minister of Water Resources is passionate about developing the country, the reason he returned home about his overseas studies. I want to commend the President for appointing young people to positions of trust and responsibility,” Mr. Lawson asserted.

He also recalled last year when access to water was a challenge for which the Minister prepared a plan to address the shortage as a short term measure revealing that the long term solution to the water problem is construction of a new dam and disclosed that the current project is to install 250 tanks all over Freetown from Allen Town to Sussex and 10 bowsers to supply water.

According to the Sector Coordinator and Operations Manager of the Dry Season Water Project, the Ministry has constructed 20 boreholes powered by solar panels all over Freetown, that a lot of NGOs did not construct standard water wells as they were dug during the raining season enlightening that the best time to construct a well is during the dry season.

Care taker of Kabbasa Lodge, Daniel J. Lavalie thanked the minster for their effort to combert water crisis in the city. He said they have being serving water to his community when the Lodge was in full operation.

He went on to say since the project reached their community, they have never short of water.

“We want such project to continue. We appreciate it so much. We want more tanks at the Lodge and we appreciate the price.”

 All the Councillors present including Councilor Aminata, Councillor Pastor Abdul KarimTuray of ward 390 expressed their joy for such project, according to them the project brought some sanity to them and their communities.

The four wards representatives expressed their appreciation to the Minister and team for taking their time to visit them at grassroots level and for such project. They called for more water tanks in their wards and other communities.