Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Magazine Ma | Page 5
NEWS in brief
Around Africa
Angola
Potable Water Supply to Be Reinforced in 2015
Huambo
—
The
potable water supply
system in the central
Huambo Province is
to be reinforced in
2015, year in which it is
predicted the end of the
construction works of
the new Water Treatment
and Distribution Station.
The
information
Trunz Water Systems was
given
recently
to ANGOP by the
provincial director of energy and water, Jorge Andrade,
who also said that currently Huambo City is being supplied
by the water treatment station of Culimahâla, with the
capacity to produce 1,360 cubic metres of water per hour,
which he considered insufficient.
In order to increase the capacity, he said, it is underway a
plan to build a new station, near the Cunhogamua river.
The Energy and Water sector in Huambo Province has
163 piped water supply systems, 398 fountains, among
other water distribution facilities.
The director also informed that the water supply rate for
the city is of 39.3 per cent for an estimated 2.5 million
inhabitants.
Central African Republic
Drinking Water Restored to Over 183,000 People
Ahead of the Rainy Season
Bangui — Just ahead of the onset of the rainy season,
which increases the risk of water-borne diseases like
cholera, UNICEF and its partners have restored safe and
chlorinated drinking water for more than 183,000 displaced
people across the Central African Republic (CAR).
“Access to safe drinking water remains out of reach to
many people who have been displaced by the violence,”
said UNICEF CAR Representative Souleymane Diabaté.
“As the first heavy rains have already begun, standing water
and flooding increase the risk of a cholera outbreak.
“Children are particularly vulnerable to diseases related
to bad water and inadequate sanitation conditions and
reliable supply of safe drinking water is crucial to their
survival and well-being.”
Current situation in Central African Republic
More than a year after the beginning of a conflict, many
displaced families still have little or no access to safe water
and those with access have a fraction of what is needed.
Among the crucial actions UNICEF and its partners have
taken in the past two months are the following:
- Over 72,000 people who fled their homes, leaving
everything behind, received soap, jerry cans and
information on appropriate hygiene practices, in an effort
to prevent the outbreak of contagious waterborne diseases.
- In the vulnerable Muslim communities of PK5, PK12
and military airport in Bangui, which are surrounded and
threatened by anti-Balaka militias, 5,000 displaced people
continued to receive emergency provisions of water in the
last several months.
- In Bossangoa, close to 17,000 internally displaced people
now have access to over 22 litres of water per person
per day after UNICEF helped to restore the facilities of
the national water company that were pillaged during the
conflict. UNICEF is also working to improve both quantity
and quality of water for 352,000 vulnerable people.
- With help from the European Union’s humanitarian arm,
ECHO, UNICEF is also working with partners to increase
the water production of the Bangui water treatment plant,
restore the municipal water distribution system in Bouar
and repair hand pumps, boreholes and wells in the interior
of the country, wherever access permits.
“In the interior of the country, many water points have
been destroyed or have fallen into disrepair, having had
no maintenance for over a year. Whenever possible, we
are repairing rather than creating new water points, which
is more sustainable than distributing water by trucking,”
Diabate added.
In 2014, UNICEF is requesting US$62 million to meet the
humanitarian needs of children in CAR, which includes
US$14 million to cover water, sanitation and hygiene needs.
Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • March - April 2014
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