Nasratu Kargbo
The Minister of Water Resources Philip Karimu Lansana has on Thursday 14th October 2021 during the weekly press briefing at the Ministry of Information and Communication admitted that Sierra Leone is not on track to meet the 2030 global target of universal access to water which was set by the UNDP.
The Minister when answering to a question as to whether the country will meet the 2030 target said “I will confess that we are not on track but we are not alone in this”. He explained that in the whole of Africa only five countries Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Botswana are the only nations on track to meet the global target.
He explained that their vision and mission are tied down to SDGs goal 6, Millennium Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) and the ministry’s mandate which states that by 2030 there should be universal access to water.
Explaining the vision of the ministry, Lansana explained that their focus is to provide universal access to easy, reliable, sustainable and portable water.
He mentioned the MTNDP’s specific indicators such as percentage of the population with access to safe drinking water to increase from 59.6 % to 80% in 2023; percentage of population with access to an improved water source within a total collection of 30 minutes to increase from 69% to 85% by 2023 and for the population’s unreliable access to water services reduced from to 24% to 7% by 2023.
The minister spoke of plans to construct a new water reservoir for Freetown and nearby areas. He also spoke about distribution networks, boreholes, and rehabilitation of water dams amongst many others, which he stated are amongst their plans for the rural areas.
He spoke about Guma Valley Water Company fixing pipes and extending them to places where they were non-existent. He mentioned a report which was submitted to him,that clearly indicated that before now, there were areas in the East where there was no water, but claimed people there could now get access to water “even though not everywhere”.
The Minister noted that they have introduced flow meters to reduce wastage in the urban areas and that few weeks ago they signed a contract with some suppliers for five thousand one hundred of those water meters. He said more will be brought for installation.
He also stated one of their priorities is to rehabilitate all water dams and protect all major water shed areas against deforestation and environmental problems. He explained that some dams have been rehabilitated, with plans to rehabilitate the others, but admitted protecting the water shed areas should be a joint effort.
Copyright © Politico Online 19/10/21
