Some residents of Kubwa, Abuja’s largest sub-urban town are currently groaning over the sudden cut in water supply to their homes for four days running.
Areas worst hit are Arab Road, PW and Phase Three where residents have resorted to several unhygienic sources of water for sustenance. The development has increased “open defecation” particularly around some parts of PW which lay along the Murtala Mohammed expressway.
A Building Engineer, Tom Ipinnaiye told Vanguard on Tuesday morning that his workers at a building site in PW have had difficulty continuing with the renovation work he was supervising because it has become difficult to get water supply.
“The terrain is a bit difficult and it’s not every tanker driver that would agree to go to the site. There’s no borehole in the compound because they are connected to the public water supply but we never expected the disruption in supply to last this long. So, the work is practically on hold until I can get a smaller truck that can convey water to the place. Many people in that area now even defecate in the open because these local water vendors do not also go there”, he said.
Many PW residents said they were taken unawares as there was no prior information to that effect.
“Before now, we used to be informed atleast once in a while about a possible disruption in supply. Even when there has been a major damage somewhere, the past FCT Administration would still send out a Press Statement. Now, we do not know what is happening. We are just in the dark”, said another resident who identified himself as Muhammad Salisu.
He was corroborated by Deborah Jegede who however called for a probe of the current management of the board who he said often disconnects people before sending their rates to them.
Contacted, Public Relations Officer of the FCT Water Board, Mr Segun Kayode said only one estate along Arab Road is connected to the public supply system, saying others are borehole-dependent.
“It is only one estate in Arab Road that has water because there is no reticulation. Pipes have not been laid there and that is not part of our mandate. We are just responsible for supplying water when the pipes are laid, but in any case, that estate has a little problem for now”, he said.
On the situation in PW, the spokesman said there was an ongoing connection of supply to certain areas, hence the need to temporarily shut down two valves, an action that halted supply in most parts.
“For PW, the Area Manager said, as a matter of fact, that they are even working on supplying some other people water. So, because of that, there is what we call valves. They hard to lock one or two valves to isolate some areas. That is the reason why some people do not have water. It is not as if there is a fault, but they did it in order to ensure that everybody in PW has water”, he explained.
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