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Thirst now stalks Longido residents
2006-03-06 11:06:52
By Patrick Kisembo, Longido
After a three-year spell of severe drought, water sources in Longido District, Arusha Region, have all dried up, forcing residents to trek long distances in search of water.
Most families in the district now have to make do with less than 20 litres of water a day. To make things worse, the safety of the availably water cannot be guaranteed.
A few residents, whose houses had running water, are no better off. The taps, some of which were installed more than 15 years ago, are all dry and only spew rust and air when they are turned on.
Ruth Ndoipo, 90, a resident of Kimokuwa Village, said the villagers had been grappling with life without water for many years.
’There is a Good Samaritan who fetches water for us from the Kenyan side of the Namanga border town in his pick up. Without him, there would be no survivors here,’ Ndoipo said.
Kiowa Village, where the villagers fetch water from, is about 10 kilometres from the Namanga border post.
She said that the water problem was more serious than the food shortage the region is experiencing.
’People buy 20 litres of water for between 600/- and 700/-. Not all families can afford this,’ she said, adding that she had never before experienced such a severe drought.
Her granddaughter, Anna Laizer, told The Guardian that all the water sources in the area had dried up.
’The rivers and lakes have all dried up. All places where we used to draw water are now bowls of dust,’ she said. ’There is isn’t a single drop of water in this village.’
Namanga Ward Councillor Kishil ole Nabak corroborated the views of the residents, saying the two water points in the ward had long dried up.
Police stationed in Namanga sometimes assist the residents with water from Arusha.
’When the government fetches water for the police in the area with a tanker, they give us a little free of charge,” he said.
Longido Councillor Mokoro Saruni said water scarcity was a serious problem that threatened the lives of people.
Women and girls trek long distances in search of water, but they sometimes return home empty-handed or they are forced to spend a night or two from home in search of water.
’They walk for more than 16 kilometres in search of just 20 litres of water. And if they don’t get it, they don’t return home till the following day,’ he said.
He suggested that a district water fund be set up to help relieve villagers of the biting scarcity of water.
Saruni asked the government to fully utilise the Longido mountains catchment area by creating dams to store water for use in the rainy season.
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