The Imo Government has urged communities in the state to rehabilitate broken down public boreholes in their areas to ensure sustainable and prolonged water services to the people.
Mrs Theodora Igboaruka, a Technical Assistant/Senior Special Adviser to Gov. Hope Uzodimma on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), made the call in an interview with our correspondent in Owerri on Friday.
Igboaruka said a report by UNICEF and the Rural Water Supply and Sanitization Agency (RUWASA) indicates that 6,157 boreholes across the state were non-functional.
She said the boreholes were provided by the Imo Government, donor agencies and private individuals to communities in the 27 Local Government Areas.
“It is quite disheartening that we keep complaining that we don’t have access to safe drinking water but the ones provided are not maintained.
“When you go to assess some of these facilities, you find out that the faults are little that can be fixed, like hand pump boreholes with broken rings that cost about N3,000,” Igboaruka said.
According to her, most of the faults of the facilities are man-made.
She said that some of the faults arose from the lack of maintenance of the solar powered motorised boreholes. “We expect the town unions, community-based organisations and traditional rulers’ councils to take up the responsibility of maintaining these facilities since water is common business of everybody.
“All they need to do is to contact RUWASSA or small town water agencies to support them with their technical skills,” she further said.
Igboaruka identified the lack of structures in the communities as part of the challenges facing the water sector in the state.
She said that WASH committees at the rural areas, WASH customer forums at the urban areas and water consumers association at the small town areas were non-existent.
“These structures are being established by the Imo Water Law 2019 but, unfortunately, have yet to be created,” the governor’s aide said.
Igboaruka said that the State Government was making efforts to constitute the committees at various levels for sustainability of the WASH facilities.
“One thing the government has outlined as one of the projects for 2023 is development of operation and maintenance strategy, a document that will define major and minor repairs of these facilities.
“Basically, projects in rural communities are projects of minor repairs, which are expected to be maintained by the WASH committees.
“Facilities in urban towns require both higher technical skill and funds to maintain by urban and small town agencies,” Igboaruka said.
She also expressed concern over the proliferation of water boreholes in the state by private individuals.
She said that a majority of the individuals were flouting standards during construction of boreholes.
She therefore warned that the proliferation of the facilities might result in subsidence, if not checked.
Igboaruka said the State Government would soon review the state water law for the establishment of regulatory agencies to check the menace.
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