By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The regional manager (east) of the Sierra Leone Water Company (SALWACO), Lanasana Sawei has expressed frustration over the damage caused to his company’s installations by the road construction firm, PAVI-Fort which is constructing township roads in Kenema.
Sawei was addressing community stakeholders in during a consultative engagement organized by the Sierra Leone Roads Authority, SLRA. “We are not against the road works in the city but according to arrangement PAVI-Fort engineers should consult with SALWACO at any time they are working in any part of the town so we can relocate our properties. Over 80% of our customers are going without water due to the damage caused by Pavi-Fort,” he said.
He said as one of the utility owners in the city, SALWACO has over the period connected a large number of customers to their supply system so they can get clean and safe water for consumption but that many have reported lack of water supply in their homes, offices and business places. A situation the regional boss said is mainly caused by road works.
He explained that the institution’s mandate is to ensure the provision of water for the general use of the people but that because of the ongoing construction projects, it will have to take time for them to fix the damages caused. He called for the intervention of relevant authorities to see how best they could address the situation.
The Public Relation Officer of PAVI–Fort Samuel OBA Navo told Politico that his organization was equally frustrated with the SALWACO boss “over the lack of cooperation from his company in terms allowing us to do our job”. Navo said companies like Sierratel and EDSA were cooperating fully with PAVI-FORT.
He alleged that SALWACO do not even know where most of their pipes are located in the city as it’s only when their machines are in action that they bump into most of them. “Whenever we approach SALWACO for them to re-locate their pipes, they tell to wait for them to refer the matter to the bosses in Freetown so that funds can be made available to do the job. Our work is time bound,” he said
The People of Kenema are complaining delays in the completion of the township roads projects.
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