Meeting The Water Supply Needs Of Yobe Rular Communities

For instance, villagers say that the borehole in Garin Goge village in the Fika Local Government Area of the state has not been functioning; a situation that compelled them to share the only available water source, a stagnant pond, with animals.According to Malam Baba Bukar, a farmer and resident of the area, after each day’s dawn prayers, women and children throng the pond to fetch water before it gets muddy. Observers have, however, raised concern over the health implications of the development, noting that the pond might have been polluted by organic and chemicals waste products.They also note that a single non-functional borehole is not enough for the entire community because other villagers in Katarko and Ngirbuwa, who face similar problem, depended on the pond. Malam Isa Lawan, a resident of Garin Goge said: ``the community depends on the pond to drink, cook and do other domestic chores; we are constrained to use the pond in spite of the looming health hazards because we have no alternative’’. ``The villagers are terrified by the experiences suffered by other communities that depended on polluted water sources; but there is nothing we can do, we cannot do without water.’’ Nonetheless, he noted that even though there were cases of gastro-intestinal infection in the community in 2009 arising from water pollution, the community has yet to witness any outbreak of water-borne diseases in recent time.``Water pollution and diseases can be avoided with timely intervention and rehabilitation of broken down water facilities in rural areas,’’ he pleaded.Reacting to the situation in the village and most communities in the area, Malam Mohammed Bukar, General Manager of the state Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency, acknowledged that the agency had received complaints from such communities.``We have taken samples of water from one of the affected villages, particularly, Gumsa, in the Geidam Local Government Area for laboratory analyses,’’ he said.He attributed the breakdown of borehole facilities in some villages in the state to the pressure exerted on them by users in their bid to obtain water from taps. Bukar explained that the repair of broken down boreholes would take some time to effect due to unavailability of spare parts.``Unfortunately, we do not have parts for the broken down boreholes; what we have presently cannot fit into the broken down facilities,’’ he said. He expressed optimism that government would soon provide the needed materials for the rehabilitation of the boreholes so that the rural communities could enjoy safe water supply.``With improvement in the security situation, we are hopeful that we will get the parts for experts to come back to the state and rehabilitate the machines,’’ he assured the residents. Observers recalled that rural communities in Yobe had enjoyed potable water supply in the past, noting that the state was rated ninth in the European Union Development Fund (EDF) assisted programme on water and sanitation.They insisted that the rating paved way for the state’s participation in the 10^th EDF on which baseline survey was recently conducted in 287 communities in the state.Stressing that Yobe, in partnership with the EU, constructed 157 water facilities comprising of seven motorised boreholes, six solar-powered boreholes, 59 single phase boreholes and 85 balance hand-pumps, the observers called for the sustenance of the performance.While residents of the communities commended the successes recorded in the partnership to provide safe water for them, they insisted that the partnership must make provisions for special maintenance funds.According to them, this is necessary to ensure that the facilities are refurbished as at when due to ensure safe and uninterrupted water supply. All said and done, observers have suggested that the Yobe government should also be more committed to rural the transformation agenda. They argued that the agenda would not be real when safe water and other facilities required by the people to live meaningful lives at the grassroots were lacking. (NANFeatures)