FCT community decries lack of potable water

Residents of Dokuma community in Kawu ward, Bwari Area Council of the FCT, have decried the lack of drinking water in the community. Some villagers, who spoke when Abuja Metro visited the community on Saturday, said the lack of pipe-borne water has been their major challenge over the years.  They said they depend solely on […]

Residents of Dokuma community in Kawu ward, Bwari Area Council of the FCT, have decried the lack of drinking water in the community.

Some villagers, who spoke when Abuja Metro visited the community on Saturday, said the lack of pipe-borne water has been their major challenge over the years. 

They said they depend solely on stream water that trickles from under a rock, noting that cattle also drink from the same source.

Mrs. Abigail Markus, a housewife, said she always wakes up around 4 a.m. to go to the stream. She explained that residents must queue to fetch water in turns.

“Because the water trickles out gradually from under the rock, women have to queue and wait for it to gather. They then use calabashes to fetch it one after the other,” she said.

Another resident, David Ayuba, said the community has written several times to the council authorities regarding the need for a borehole, but these efforts have not yielded any positive results.

 He noted that the community lacks any functional hand pumps or overhead tanks, leaving the stream as their only source.

“In fact, one can’t count the number of times we have written to the Bwari Area Council authorities to provide a borehole for this community, but up until today, nothing has been done,” he said.

He added that while the community finds some relief during the rainy season, residents face severe water shortages as soon as the dry season sets in.

“It is only during the rainy season that our people have a sigh of relief. The moment the dry season sets in, our people have to go far to the stream to fetch water,” he said.

Ayuba, therefore, appealed to the council authorities to come to the aid of the community by providing a borehole to ameliorate the suffering of residents.

An official in the Works Department of the Bwari Area Council, who preferred anonymity, told our reporter via telephone that the council has already captured the sinking of boreholes in its budget for several communities, including Dokuma.

“Actually, Dokuma is among the villages captured to be provided with a borehole in this year’s budget, God willing,” he said.