By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The Regional Manager East, Sierra Leone Water Company (SALWACO) Eng. Lansana Sawei has called for action by the government and residents of Kenema municipality for the protection of the gravity in the water catchment areas in the Kambui forest in Kenema against human activities that continue to pose threat to the facilities.
Engineer Sawei told Politico that the water gravity system that has been providing water to residents in Kenema has a treatment plant that uses a machine to transfer water to the reservoir.
He said the system is cheaper and economical to the government as they only apply chemicals in the dams to purify the water for distribution and public consumption.
However, he said the dams in the Kambui forest are currently under threat due to deforestation, gold mining, charcoal burning within the gravity water locations, stone mining while land owners are selling some portions of the land to people to build dwelling houses.
“All these activities have contributed to poor supply of water to the people in Kenema and if it continues, it will led to water shortage for Kenema city,’’ he said.
He added that the activities around the dams have caused the water to be constantly dirty, noting that the main transmission lines that supply water are also under threat as somebody has already bought the piece of land where the major pipe passes.
The Regional Manager said similar issues were also raised earlier this year and a team comprising Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials, Ministry of Lands,the Paramount chief of Nongowa, SALWACO staff and other sectors went to some of the affected areas where those illegal activities were ongoing and certain resolutions taken as a mitigating measures to prevent the destruction of the Kambui forest but said it seems nothing is happening because people are still erecting structures in those places.
He said those activities have caused the company to spend more resources on the water treatment plant at Tiloma instead of sustaining the gravity water which is much cheaper with less resources.
‘’It’s a huge cost to government as compared to the gravity system which is less expensive,’’ he said.
The Manager noted that there are twelve dams in the Kambui forest reserved and that if protected, it will continue to provide water to the people even during the dry season. However, he said only eight of the twelve gravity sources are currently in use.
Speaking to Politico, the Regional Surveyor East, Ministry of Lands and Country Planning , Abubakar Kamara referred to the encroachment on the SALWACO water catchment as an unfortunate situation that is happening in the Kambui forest and that the activities are not only affecting the dams site but even the main pipes that supply water to Kenema.
He said the ministry did an investigation on the ongoing construction around the pipe and the owner told them he acquired the land from the land owning family but said they have stopped the construction work immediately.
“We told him if he wants to do anything around that particular land, he should work with SALWACO management whether to relocate their pipes or not, that is in the hands of SALWACO,’’ he said.
The chiefdom speaker of Nongowa , Frank Senesie Daniel Neka told Politico that as chiefdom authorities, they have held several meetings with the EPA, National Protected Area Authority (NPPA), SALWACO and the security sector to protect the Kambui forest and the SALWACO water sources.
‘’I have even advised the paramount chief not to even sign any land documents having to do around the Kambui hill areas and the swamp until they visit the land site,’’ he said.
Chief Neka said they have also put some internal measures in place to protect the dams and that anybody caught around the dams should be arrested. The land owning families around the Kambui forest have been strongly cautioned not to sell any hill side of the forest and the wet land.
Copyright © Politico Online (17/09/21)
