Nothing to drink: One water hole for 20 villages The Nileriver.org Tonj East, 16/7/2012 - One bore hole serves over 20 villages - and besides drinking water, it also brings disease and ill health. The administrative district of Ananatak, in the county of Tonj East, has only one water pump – and this serves over 20 local villages. Their only pump is corroded, it produces brownish water that smells and they believe they will get stomach diseases if they drink from it. According to community health worker, Akot Lual, who runs a local health centre, they are probably correct. Lual says that typhoid, acute diarrhoea and respiratory infections have all increased this year because of the dirty water from the pump and the untreated ponds. “I register at least three typhoid patients a day and more than four patients suffering from acute, watery diarrhoea,” he says. “This is the only borehole and many people are getting diarrhoea because the water they harvest from the pump is contaminated,” Madhol Chol, the Mayor of Tonj East, says. As the population in the area increases, so does the drinking water problem, he added. Women from nearby villages have to walk two to three hours to get to the pump, then they have to jostle for the water. “Lack of water is a big problem here in Ananatak,” Alier Kuol, a local primary school teacher, says. “Some people come from villages about 20km away to collect water at this borehole.” And as a result, collecting water is a day-long task. The borehole here is also the main water source for many of the community’s animals. Local chiefs stated that water scarcity was not only a health problem; it was also causing them to clash with other communities that are also in search of water. And, as one of the chiefs told authorities, the further the cattle herders have to go for water, the more exposed they are to cattle rustling – a major cause of conflict in this area. A state delegation visited the area and although the county has plenty of other problems, including food insecurity and lack of health care facilities, the state Minister for Rural development, Mabor Malek, assured them that 21 more bore holes would be developed, as well as three small dams. Eventually there could be 50 bore holes, he said. Up until now, the main issue had been getting drilling machines into the area, the minister explained. “I have really seen how this area lacks safe drinking water,” Malek says. “As the minister responsible I will try everything to provide the area with safe drinking water.”
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