Margibi County – Acute shortage of safe drinking water and poor sanitary conditions still remain a challenged in most rural communities across Liberia.
James Gboto, Nagbos town chief, told FrontPage Africa that residents of his town have been fetching water from uncovered wells and the bush for sanitation.
The town, Gboto said, has over 250 dwellers and is among several other towns in the area that lack access to basic water and sanitation facilities.
But the hope of the inhabitants of fetch water was often dash during the rainy season due to flood, prior to initial interventions by Red Cross.
At the same time, the Town Chief of Kpuzu Town, Philip Isaac recounted how dreadful it was for his people to fetch water from unsafe site.
According to him, Du-River, which passes through the area, was the only source of fetching water but inhabitants used the same water for latrine purposes or sometimes the bushes.
“Our people used to go all the way to the Du-River to get drinking water and if the water dries, we have to dig near us to get water,” he said.
“Red Cross came to help us, they gave us hand-pump and toilet and we tell them thanks for all the good they do for us because we don’t have anything to give them, but want for them to do more and more,” he said.
I did not have safe drinking water, that Red Cross makes me to be drinking safe water.
“Addressing the critical needs of affected people in the area will support and promote protection, dignity and enhance their resilience.” The exposure of this affected population to unfavorable conditions makes them highly susceptible to a number of health and livelihood challenges.

Some 18 million people are food insecure; one million more than when we convened last year.
Last year, 1 million people suffered from watery diarrhoea and cholera.
But with international support, we can and must prevent this country from becoming a long-term tragedy.
Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, The 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan for Yemen requires $2.96 billion to reach more than 13 million people across the country.
At the start of last year, partners were reaching 3 million people per month with food assistance.
Yemen has always received Somali refugees in big numbers coming to the country, and granting them prima facie refugee status, something that unfortunately, many other countries around the world refused to do, even if their resources and capacities are much larger than the resources and capacities of the Yemeni people.
Last year’s donor conference raised $1.1 billion for humanitarian action in Yemen.
The governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have generously provided $930 million for the Humanitarian Response Plan.
Humanitarian agencies and their partners need full and unconditional access at all times.
All ports must remain open to humanitarian and commercial cargo for the medicines, the food and the fuel needed to deliver them.

During the commemorations at Prisons Ground, master of Katanti Sichula and pupils from Katima and Sesheke secondary schools took a jibe at WWSC for the poor service offered to Sesheke residents.
WWSC human resource and administration manager Pauline Sakala, who apologised to the gathering for non-supply of water for two days prior to World Water Day commemorations, attributed the lack of water in the district to a breakdown at the water plant.
Speaking later at World Water Day celebrations, whose theme was “Nature for Water,” Western Province Permanent Secretary Sibanze Simuchoba described the service coverage for water in Western Province, which stands at 62 percent compared to the national average of 85 percent, as very low.
“Sanitation in Western Province is still at 36 percent, lagging behind the national average of 60 percent.
My government is therefore poised to meet this challenge head-on,” Mr Simuchoba said.
Under rural water, US$38.23 million has been financed by AfDB for 1,200 boreholes in Western Province,” Mr Simuchoba said.
A new contractor has been engaged to complete Muoyo Water supply project at K9.9 million,” he said.
Mr Simuchoba appealed to the traditional leadership to support the company’s expansion plans throughout the province by discouraging squatters on water well fields and boreholes.
“This is why my government has demonstrated its commitment to meeting the SDGs in the water and sanitation sector by creating a fully-fledged ministry of Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection,” Mr Simuchoba said.
He said Government’s approach to ensuring that its citizens access safe, affordable, adequate drinking water and sanitation services began with the water sector reforms of 1994, where service delivery was separated from water resources management.

Put that question to Chris Dunston, senior program officer at the Hilton Foundation, and he’ll give you this answer: Philanthropists can assume some of the risk by showing larger organizations, such as the World Bank, that WASH models like the one Hilton is trying in Ghana are effective.
As we’ve reported before, Hilton supports WASH groups working in water-stressed regions in Africa, India, and Mexico.
It has staked out a prominent spot in the WASH space, along with funders like the Gates, Ikea, and Caterpillar foundations.
Hilton’s strategy in this area has been evolving in recent years, as we’ve reported, and Ghana is one of six countries with active projects as part of Hilton’s 2017-2021 WASH grantmaking blueprint.
Related: This work focuses on advancing WASH solutions and models that are proven and show promise, strengthening in-country water governance systems, and “building and disseminating credible and actionable evidence.” In Ghana and elsewhere, Hilton is working on district-based programs to bring multiple disciplines together.
“In Ghana you have 216 district assemblies, and the local and regional authorities are bound by government edicts,” Dunston, who works on the foundation’s Safe Water Strategy, told Inside Philanthropy.
“Ghana is further along than neighboring countries that Hilton Foundation has work in.
In Uganda, Hilton awarded Water for People $3 million to support its ongoing work in the rural Kamwenge District.
When the Hilton Foundation laid out its WASH plans with its Safe Water program in 2010, it stressed access to safe water and sanitation as a major global health and development challenge.
Will the Hilton model work in Ghana?

Access to drinking water and basic sanitation is a right and one of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations.
An unacceptable sanitation deficit persists, and the suffering caused by drought to the people of Brazil’s northeast region is a well-known fact.
The forum is expected to gather more than 40,000 participants from over 160 countries.
More recently, we were among the first countries to ratify the Paris Agreement, which deals with one of the main threats to the right of access to water: climate change.
We have also made significant progress towards protecting our forests.
We have increased our forest conservation areas.
By protecting our ecosystems we protect our water sources.
The water must get to those who need it.
The long-awaited project, now in its final stages, will benefit a population 12 million in Brazil’s northeast.
This is the Brazil that is hosting the World Water Forum: a country in search common solutions to global problems; a country that will continue to do its part in preserving our most precious resource.

Nanbo and Kporzu Towns get WASH facilities The Liberia National Red Cross (LNRC) with assistance from the Japanese government through the International Red Cross has provided 30 hand pumps, to supply safe drinking water to Nanbo and Kporzu Towns, located in Lower Margibi County, right off the RIA (Roberts International Airport) highway.
The assistance came through a LNRC project titled: ‘Enhancing Response and Recovery capacity and support to the Population affected by Floods in Margibi and Montserrado counties.’ The US$539,729 project targeted 31 communities in the two counties.
In Margibi, 98 families received cement, zinc, and planks.
What they have done for us only God will pay that.
Our people have been dying of diarrhea and another sickness because of the bad water.
We don’t even know how to say thank you to Red Cross,” said Nanbo Town Chief, James Gboto.
“Since I started knowing myself, this is where we have been drinking from.
It is not enough, but we’ve been managing because we have no other alternative.” Nanbo has over 250 dwellers and is among several other towns in the area that has lacked access to Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
We have been suffering for a very long time,” Town Chief James Gboto said.
“We also set up a mechanism to make communities prepare for and take action in response to future alerts and threats of flooding.” Meanwhile what is lacking now is health centers in the two communities.

Margibi County – Acute shortage of safe drinking water and poor sanitary conditions still remain a challenged in most rural communities across Liberia.
James Gboto, Nagbos town chief, told FrontPage Africa that residents of his town have been fetching water from uncovered wells and the bush for sanitation.
The town, Gboto said, has over 250 dwellers and is among several other towns in the area that lack access to basic water and sanitation facilities.
But the hope of the inhabitants of fetch water was often dash during the rainy season due to flood, prior to initial interventions by Red Cross.
At the same time, the Town Chief of Kpuzu Town, Philip Isaac recounted how dreadful it was for his people to fetch water from unsafe site.
According to him, Du-River, which passes through the area, was the only source of fetching water but inhabitants used the same water for latrine purposes or sometimes the bushes.
“Our people used to go all the way to the Du-River to get drinking water and if the water dries, we have to dig near us to get water,” he said.
“Red Cross came to help us, they gave us hand-pump and toilet and we tell them thanks for all the good they do for us because we don’t have anything to give them, but want for them to do more and more,” he said.
I did not have safe drinking water, that Red Cross makes me to be drinking safe water.
“Addressing the critical needs of affected people in the area will support and promote protection, dignity and enhance their resilience.” The exposure of this affected population to unfavorable conditions makes them highly susceptible to a number of health and livelihood challenges.

Year 1 and 2 students of Namamanuca Primary School pose with their World Water Day costumes.
Even though World Water Day was celebrated on March 22, given the importance of water in our everyday lives, it is important that we think about its social and WORLD Water Day was celebrated on March 22 and water is an important aspect of life with millions of people around the world recently commemorating the event.
Minister for Environment Parveen Kumar said Fiji was blessed with access to clean water sources with Fiji being branded internationally for its natural artesian water.
"It is more than just an essential commodity to quench thirst or protect health, water is also vital for creating jobs, supporting economic, social, environmental and human development," Mr Kumar said.
Around 1.9 billion people live in potentially severely water-scarce areas," he said.
"By 2050, this could increase to around 3 billion people.
‘Today, around 1.8 billion people are affected by land degradation and desertification.
He said nature-based solutions had the potential to solve many of Fiji’s water challenges.
He said Government, in its commitment to improving water and sanitation services, had increased its budget provisions over the past 10 years.
One of the schools that celebrated the event was Namamanuca Primary School on Yanuya Island.

ActionAid Zambia has spent over K750,000 on eight boreholes in Nalolo East and West banks in a bid to improve people’s access to safe drinking water.
Speaking at a handover ceremony of one of the water facilities at Kataba village in Nalolo yesterday, ActionAid Country Director, Nalusha Ziba revealed that ActionAid through the support of Danish Television Network (DTV) had embarked on a water project aimed improving women’s access to water in the district.
Ms. Ziba said in its new global strategy themed “Action for Global Justice” ActionAid is further going to address the inequalities and injustices that have continued to perpetuate poverty in the rural communities in Zambia.
She said her organization’s desire in Zambia was to build a just society for all regardless of their socio-economic status.
ActionAid is undertaking similar projects in other provinces in the country namely Eastern, Copperbelt, Northern and Muchinga.
And Provincial Permanent Secretary, Sibanze Muchoba thanked ActionAid Zambia for its continued support towards Zambia’s social sector.
Mr. Simuchoba said Government was aware of the unwavering support it was receiving from ActionAid in the education, health and water and sanitation sectors in the country.
In a speech read on his behalf by Principal Accountant Minyoi Mooka, Mr. Simuchoba said the provision of water facilities in Nalolo will greatly improve people’s lives in the area.
And speaking on behalf of the Kataba community, Area Councilor, Mwendoi Pumulo paid growing tribute to ActionAid for the gesture.
Ms. Pumulo said the boreholes will go a long way in reducing the difficulties people have faced in accessing water in the area.

A recent study from the National Academy of Sciences found that, since 1982, between 3 percent and 10 percent of the country’s water systems are in violation of the health standards outlined in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
That may not sound like much, but it equates to around 21 million people per year being exposed to unsafe drinking water, or about 6 percent of the U.S population.
The cost of government inaction China has shown the need for government to get involved in minimizing water pollution to protect its populace.
One thing that Texas, Oklahoma and many other rural regions affected by poor water quality have in common is that they are staunch seats of the Republican Party.
However, for the people that work for these corporations, the regulations only offer a positive result of clean, safe drinking water.
But the fact is, in many small towns and rural areas, locals only seem able to see their hatred for the EPA and regulations because Fox News and the Republican Party has been fanning the flames of hate for decades.
In a statement, Howard A. Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center, said: “EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s rush to delay the Clean Water Rule will allow more pollution, threatening safe, clean drinking water in the Midwest.
We can’t afford to go backwards when it comes to reducing pollution of our community rivers, lakes and streams.” Helping people help themselves The issue of unsafe drinking water is worse in rural communities that don’t have the finances to improve their failing systems, and also because their small populations have little recourse to complain.
Health violations actually skyrocketed in rural areas in the 2000s after the EPA revised its stance on disinfectants, where the standard practice had always been to use chlorine and other disinfectants to remove pathogens from drinking water.
Which begs the question: How bad does the situation, and our people’s health, have to get before we finally decide to act?