Users of public water in Iwo are gradually losing hope as burst pipelines have turned a major hindrance to the regular supply of public water. TUNDE BUSARI reports the frustration of the residents.
The ancient town of Iwo in Osun State is silently losing the service of public water supply going by the high percentage of what is technically called bursts experienced by the Osun State Water Corporation in the town, a development that has since sent a wrong signal to users of public water and caused panic among them.
Burst, Nigerian Tribune gathered, is broken pipelines which make distribution of water to different points difficult and gives room for wastages. It was learnt that 70 percent of water pumped to the town ends up inside drainage and on the streets, thereby digging potholes among other problems on the road.
Even though many house owners in Iwo like every other towns, especially in the South-west, develop their property together with borehole option, a good number patronize the state water corporation because, according to them, of its affordability and quality that makes water-related disease in their household impossibility.
Just like use of the public electricity supply, public water is said to be cheap, and can be subjected to individual manipulations, hence the alleged huge unpaid debts on the table of the corporation.
Alhaji Wakilu Sanusi, a commercial vehicle operator, told our correspondent that his house, which he built in 1997, relies on public water because, he stated, public water was comparatively cost-effective as much as it is dependable.
The outspoken fully bearded man said he could not afford the charge for borehole when he built the house and, therefore, settled for public water supply, which, he maintained, had since served him and his household well until few years ago when he began to observe some flashes of irregularity.
“I was enjoying government water. It was clean and well treated with chemical. It gave me and my family assurance that we were drinking good water which is good for our health. But in few years, things have changed. We are not enjoying regular supply again. I am working seriously to also have borehole but the cost is not a child play. If I can raise the money now, I am not going to wait because in Nigeria any public benefit lost is gone forever.
“I don’t want to say I have lost hope but I am old enough to know the trends of things in the country. Can you remember how the old NITEL died before news telephone service operators came to help us out? I am not losing hope on them (Water Corporation) but I cannot fool myself waiting for them,” he said in impeccable Yoruba Language.
Evidence of Alhaji Sanusi’s skeptism lies in the office of Osun State Water Corporation (Water Supply Scheme) located at a place famously called water works along Yidi-Oba road. Looking at the office, which hosts the dam of the corporation, from distance would paint a picture of abandoned premises, a contrast to what, our correspondent learnt, it was years back.
It will take inquisitive mind to venture into the bush that appears to lead to a jungle. However, when the reporter tried his luck following the guide by a commercial motorcycle operator, who transported him there, a big plant where, water supply is processed was found.
Remarkably, the building is surrounded by farmland allegedly cultivated by some retired workers of the water corporation. The structure, commissioned in 1958, is fast sliding into archive material with its faded paint and broken components. But the machines, that filter and also treat water, are in tolerable state. Aside some bags of water treatment chemical recently supplied the office, a 400 KV power generator is also on standby in case public electricity fails.
Besides, the dam is in its state of natural quietness but a source alleged that it is not properly maintained. The source further disclosed that lack of proper maintenance of the dam had offered opportunity to a gang of youths who often test their swimming skills in the facility.
The Ondo State-born lamented his frustration in educating the concerned people on the danger in turning public dam to swimming pool, adding that it is not good for public health despite the fact that the water undergo treatment.
“But they would not listen; they call us names and say because we are not indigenes, we don’t have right to call them to order. Yet, when any of them get drowned, we are the one they run to in order to remove the corpse,” he averred.
He called on the authorities to employ more hands, especially security guards who would monitor the dam day and night for the interest of the public who use government water for their daily needs.
In his response to the state of water in the town, the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba AbdulRasheed Akanbi also expressed his reservation on the bursts recorded and attributed the development to long years of installation of the pipelines.
However, the traditional ruler, who is currently observing his holiday in Canada, made a promise to look into the matter with a view to bringing it to the attention of the government. Oba Akanbi said in the countries of Northern Hemisphere, public water and other utilities are a given which attract no outcry, unlike what obtains in developing countries.
“But as I always say, it is my responsibility as father of all my subjects to take the lead in providing social service to them in the area they need. That’s what I have spent my three years on the throne to do. This water issue is not going to be an exception.
“I have done roads personally before and after the Oluwo, I am also just constructing the first Arc of Temple on the roundabout, where statue of old soldier stood for so many years when I was a kid. On this water matter, we are going to reach out to the relevant bodies to ensure that the pipelines are repaired or changed to enable water reaches everywhere,” he assured.
The post Why are Iwo water pipes running dry? appeared first on Tribune.
Source Tribune
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