Nigeria: A Peep Into the Life of Abuja Water Vendors – We’re the Real Water Board, Says Mai Ruwa

The FCT Water Board authorities are always chasing Mai Ruwa, the name for local water vendors, away, particularly from the highbrow areas of Maitama, Asokoro and Wuse II. {Since] the Board [...] seems to be finding it difficult to meet the federal capital’s water needs. [...] residents readily welcome Mai Ruwa. There is hardly any street without water truck pushers, including those in Maitama, Gwarinpa and Asokoro areas.Sleeping under a tree and trying to get some rest was what Sule Maikano, a water vendor, was doing before continuing with his tedious job of supplying water to a neighbourhood in Asokoro. Sule narrated his daily experience and how he goes about doing his job to Weekly Trust.

[...] “I have to wake up very early to go and queue for water at the borehole so that we can supply our various customers. The borehole people do not make things any better as they keep increasing the money for purchasing water and by the time we try to sell it to get our money back and make a little profit, our customers complain, making us to sell at a loss”.

Read more: Amina Alhassan and Umma Umar Muhammed, Daily Trust / allAfrica.com, 14 Feb 2009
14 February 2009

Ghana: Abongo Replaces Asaga As Minister Designate for Water Resources, Works & Housing

Albert Abongo. Photo: Ghana Districts.com

Following the withdrawal of Mr. Moses Asaga, Member of Parliament (MP) for Nabdam Constituency, from his nomination as Minister designate for Water Resources, Works & Housing by President John Evans Atta Mills, [newspaper] The Chronicle has gathered that Mr. Albert Abongo, MP for Bongo constituency in the Upper West region has been named as a replacement.[Mr. Abongo's priorities included] the affordable housing project [and] the need to expand free flow of water to all corners of the country. This he said, would enable Ghanaians enjoy good drinking water. “There is the need to expand water to every corner of the country because water is very important to everybody”, he noted.

[...] Mr. Abongo is a Christian who hails from Gowrie-Bongo. He is a 49 year old Civil Servant and holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

[...] Mr. Moses Asaga became the first casualty to face President Mills’ wrath following his purported authorization of payment of emoluments to former President Kufuor and his Vice, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, and Members of Parliament as per the recommendations of the Chinnery-Hesse Committee.

Source: Stephen Odoi-Larbi, Chronicle / allAfrica.com, 13 Feb 2009

Uganda: Kampala Sewerage System to Be Expanded

A sanitation project worth 61m euro (about sh152.5b) will start in Kampala district soon.  The state minister for water, Jennifer Namuyangu, said under the three-year project, sewerage treatment ponds would be constructed. “We are expanding the sewerage system and rehabilitating the old one,” she said.Only 8% of Kampala’s population is connected to the system, Namuyangu added.  She said about 38m euros was borrowed from the African Development Bank, adding that the rest of the money would be secured from KFW, a Germany company, the Government and the National Water and Sewerage Corporation.

Namuyangu said two treatment plants would be built in Nakivubo and Kinawataka swamps, adding that another two sewerage tanks would also be constructed in Lubigi swamp and Bwaise to accommodate waste from septic tanks.

Source: Joyce Namutebi and Catherine Bekunda, New Vision / allAfrica.com, 12 Feb 2009

Botswana: Cholera becoming an election issue

The detection of cholera in northeastern Botswana is causing rising resentment of the Zimbabweans fleeing their homeland’s collapse, and is being used by opposition parties in an election year to slam President Ian Khama’s government.In late January and early February 2009, Botswana’s parastatal, the Water Utilities Corporation (WUC), found traces of vibrio cholerae bacteria in the Shashe reservoir near Tonota village, about 35km south of Francistown, the country’s second city, and in Letsibogo Dam near Mmadinare, about 25km northwest of the mining town, Selebi Phikwe.

The dams have been decommissioned and the surrounding areas put on high alert, but among residents there is a growing suspicion that the authorities are covering up a cholera outbreak, as both water sources lie close to Zimbabwe.

“It is obvious there is already a cholera outbreak, but the ministry is just trying to do some public relations to contain the situation,” Lebogang Thutlwe, originally from Mmadinare but now living in Selebi Phikwe, told [news agency] IRIN.

[...] The WUC has not disclosed the source of the cholera, but Thutlwe is convinced the disease arrived with an “illegal immigrant from Zimbabwe”. “I have no doubt this is the case – there are many Zimbabweans here, and most often they bring lots of stuff infested with cholera.”

[...] WUC spokesperson Matida Mmipi told a local newspaper, Mmegi, that residents in the area were concerned about nothing. [...] “The detection of bacteria does not mean there has been or there shall be a cholera outbreak. This is just a precautionary measure we are taking to ensure we are on the safe side, always,” Mmipi said.

Source: IRIN, 12 Feb 2009

Nigeria: International Team Helps Bring Water to Rural Community

[A] U.S.-assisted team is developing a safe and reliable drinking water source from a 150-meter-deep well and then piping the clean water into the Adu Achi village [in southeastern Nigeria]. Residents of this 3,000-person community now walk more than six kilometers several times a day to a contaminated stream to collect drinking water, wash cassava (their primary food crop), bathe, wash clothing and carry water back to the village.

[...] The Adu Achi project is directed by WaterCAMPWS [the Center of Advanced Materials for the Purification of Water with Systems] , a National Science Foundation  science and technology center headquartered at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). The center promotes research at eight U.S. universities and five U.S. laboratories and water institutions to develop new materials and systems for safely and economically purifying water.

The Nigerian project is a partnership between members of the Adu Achi community and students of the UIUC chapter of Engineers Without Borders, a U.S.-based humanitarian organization, with significant help from people at Ebonyi State University and Canadian Samaritans for Africa.

Financial support has come from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, UIUC Engineering Design Council, UIUC International Programs in Engineering, Uni-Bell PVC Pipe Association, Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB), the Chicago professional chapter of EWB, U.K. PipeFlow Corp. and a Mondialogo Engineering Award from Daimler AG corporation and UNESCO.

[...] Every day, water is required to wash cassava, and the washing process releases starch and naturally occurring cyanide from the vegetable, which further contaminates the stream used as a water source. Future cassava-washing basins in the village have been designed in conjunction with Canadian Samaritans for Africa to eliminate the need to walk to the stream to obtain water, and to better manage the resulting cyanide-contaminated wastewater.

[...]  Project members investigated options to power the well pump, including wind, solar and palm biofuel, but the recent connection of the community to the electrical power grid provides an option far more affordable than any of those fuels. Because electricity remains intermittent, a diesel generator will serve as a backup power supply.

[...] Community health and sanitation education has been a group effort by Nigerian public health students from Ebonyi State University, EWB, the Adu Achi community water committee and the Nigerian Society for Family Health, which is supported in part by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

[...] Current health outreach focuses on combating malaria with medication and bed nets and providing household chlorination of drinking water.

More information is available at the Web sites of WaterCAMPWS and the Engineers Without Borders chapter at UIUC.

Source: Nancy L. Pontius, America.gov, 11 Feb 2009

Ghana: President Mills Reminded of His Promise On Water

The Essential Services Platform (ESP) has reminded Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills of his election promise to renationalize the provision of water supply to ensure quality, accessible and affordable water to all Ghanaians.

The group says the crisis state of the water provision is a reflection of the monumental failure of Aqua Vitens Rand Limited, the management entity of Ghana Water Company Limited. [...] Aqua Vitens Rand [...] are not performing to the extent that the non-provision of water to the people has assumed a national crisis, observed the ESP.

“Their contract therefore should be abrogated and provision of water supply should be re-nationalized as promised by the NDC [....] Adam Alhassan, a member of the ESP said in answer to a question last Thursday.

[A]t a forum organised by the ESP for the political parties last year, Hannah Tetteh, Trade and Industry Minister designate and NDC Communications Director, espoused the views of the President saying that she did not see why the provision of water should be in private hands.

Patrick Apoya, the Chairman for the event, found it unjustifiable that government only spends a mere 5% of its resources on such an indispensable public good like water, while donors put in 95%.

[...] Aqua Vitens Rand’s October 2008 Report suggests that “there are still no reagents and in some cases equipment to test for pesticides, lead, mercury and arsenic. [...] Delays in the replacement of old pipelines are a major source of contamination. “

According to Ben Lartey since 2005 Ghana disbursed only $38.22 million out of a $103 million for the Urban Water [...] Project leaving, a whopping sum of $ 88.55 million. “This is of great concern since this money was supposed to be used in replacement of old pipelines and machinery to improve water production. Rural water is also taking a dip, according to the World Bank’s Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC), May 1, 2008,” he lamented.

Source: Ebenezer Hanson, Pubica Agenda / allAfrica.com, 09 Feb 2009

Ghana: WASHCost Visits Daily Guide

WASHProject team in Ghana. Photo Daily Guide

The Non-Governmental Organization, WASHCost, made up of a nine-member delegation paid a courtesy call to the offices of Daily Guide, Ghana’s most widely circulated private newspaper on Tuesday [24 February 2009].

They included the Project Assistant of WASHCost, Michele Adjei-Fah, Janet Alamisi Dabire, a Ghanaian journalist, Martine Sawadogo, Herve Tiendrebeogo, Jules Sow and Pascal Dabou all from Burkina Faso.

Others were, Ewen Le Borge, Netherlands, Egidio Vaz, Mozambique and Abu Wumbei, Ghana.

The visit was part of a familiarization tour to abreast themselves of the Ghanaian style of newspaper publication business, especially those in private hands [...] The Chief News Editor of the paper, A.R. Gomda took them round the facility to explain how things are done in the media set up.

WASHCost is a five-year environmental project, which is aimed at researching into the life-cycle costs of water, sanitation, as well as hygiene.

Its services permeate through rural and peri-urban areas in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mozambique and India.

The rationale behind its establishment is to improve at all levels, as decision makers and stakeholders analyse the costs of sustainable, equitable with efficient services.

Source: Nathiel Y. Yankson, Daily Guide / ModernGhama.com, 26 Feb 2009

World Bank Water Week 2009 Africa presentations online

Water Week took place at the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC from February 17-20, 2009. The event was organized by the Water Anchor in partnership with the Water Sector Board. Titled “Tackling Global Water Challenges”, the discussions focused on the urgent challenges currently faced by the water community including inter alia: adapting to climate change, responding to the food crisis, keeping the momentum for the MDGs, and dealing with the potential impact of the global economic crisis.

All presentations are now online here.

Below are links to some of the Africa-related WASH presentations:

• Benin Rural Water Public Expenditures Review
• Improving Performance, The Role Of Governance: Burkina Faso
• Water Operators in Rural Areas in Cameroon: An Alternative that Works
• At Scale Hygiene and Sanitation Promotion in Ethiopia
• Ghana – Role Of Private Operator In Small Towns Water Supply
• Assessing Options for Reducing Health Risks in Irrigated Urban Farming:New Findings from Ghana
• Kenya Microfinance To Small Piped Water Supplies
• PPP In the Rural Water Supply Sector: The Senegalese Experience
• Public Expenditure Review in the Water Sector: The Case of Tanzania
• Helping Implementers Scale Up: Indonesia, India, and Tanzania
• Private Sector Participation In Provision of Water Supply Services in Small Towns in Uganda
• Fostering Improved Performance Through Internal Contractualisation: Uganda
• Uganda Small Towns: Contractual Arrangements & Funds Flow
• Scaling Up Sanitation And Hygiene In Uganda
• WSS Services In Small Towns In Zambia

Somalia: WASH and nutrition in Central and Gedo regions of urgent humanitarian concern

In a donor alert, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the Gedo and Central regions are facing a crisis of severe malnutrition, exacerbated by lack of funding and a shortage of water. Currently, vital activities are relying entirely on carry-over from 2008 due to lack of funding in 2009. Without an immediate injection of funding for emergency nutrition and WASH programming, more people will become acutely malnourished and vulnerable to water-borne diseases especially women and children.

[...] Critical WASH activities are not taking place due to the lack of immediate funding. So far, only US$300,000 out of a US$36 million requirement for WASH activities has been met. Nutrition activities which need to expand have similarly suffered from funding shortfalls. [T] he WASH Cluster requires US$6 million to improve access to emergency water and sanitation services for drought and conflict-affected areas in Gedo and Central regions.

Contact: Erik Toft, WASH Cluster Chair, e-mail etoft [at] unicef.org

Read more: OCHA / ReliefWeb, 25 Feb 2009

Mali: Raising money and hygiene standards

Women in one of the poorest areas of Mali’s capital, Bamako, have found a way to tackle hygiene issues and earn money at the same time – by making soap.

Djibril Coulibaly, Project Coordinator for JIGI, Mali. Photo: WaterAid.

[...] “Hygiene standards in the Nafadji [slum] area of town were very very low, due to lack of infrastructure and because of ignorance,” Djibril Coulibaly, hygiene coordinator of Malian non-profit JIGI, told IRIN. “We carried out research that showed contaminated water and a lack of water were causing disease, but also that behaviours surrounding hand washing had an impact.”

JIGI (hope in the local language Bambara) has been collaborating with the international charity, WaterAid, for the last eight years to build public faucets and install household latrines in Nafadji.

But when JIGI began its hygiene education programme focused on hand washing [people said] “that they could not afford industrial soap, it was too expensive at 300 CFA [57 US cents].” Coulibaly added. “So we decided to work with a women’s group to look at the problem.”

[...] JIGI and WaterAid supported the Nfadji Women’s Association (AFSAN), a group of some 20 neighbourhood women, to set up a soap-making business in 2003. [...] The number of soap pieces made per week has risen from 150 to 225, and demand is increasing, which has prompted plans to expand the business, said Coulibaly.

[Some] long-held traditional beliefs discouraged individual hand washing [for example that handwashing makes you poor]. [Therefore JIGI runs] weekly awareness meetings on washing hands with soap.

Source: IRIN, 26 Feb 2009