Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have described as unacceptable the current disruption in water supply in the nation’s capital.
The residents said such disruption was insensitive, especially as it will run throughout the week of the Eid al-Kabir celebrations by Muslim faithful. The Eid al-Kabir is scheduled to hold on Friday, 6 June.
The FCT Water Board, late on Thursday, alerted its customers within and outside the city centre that due to the ongoing rehabilitation works of the water treatment plants at Lower Usuma Dam, there would be a disruption of water supply to both the city centre and the outskirts.
The board said the rehabilitation work would pave the way for the connection of the electro-mechanical equipment of its treatment plants, which is a major component of the rehabilitation work.
The disruption, according to the board, started on Friday, 30 May and would run till Friday, 13 June.
Daily Trust reports that since the announcement, water supply to both the city and satellite towns has been erratic, with many struggling to get water for domestic use.
Many residents described the board’s decision, especially as it coincides with the Muslim festive period, as insensitive.
Other residents said that apart from carrying out such maintenance at a time the Muslim faithful would be celebrating Eid al-Kabir, the notice given by the board was too short.
Engr. Musa Talibi, who resides in Asokoro, said it was wrong for the board to announce such disruption at a time when Muslims would be celebrating the big Sallah.
He said, ‘We should be sensitive when making this kind of decision. How can you stop the supply of water, as important as it is, during a festive period? Where do you want people who are without boreholes to get water from? Honestly, one will find it difficult to understand the rationale behind this decision’.
Mr Kenneth Johnson, who resides in Wuye, also faulted the board for planning to disrupt supply to households for two weeks. ‘How do you want the residents to cope, especially when some of the residents will be celebrating Sallah? I am not sure this is a good decision’, he said.
In an open letter to the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, a concerned Abuja-based journalist and author, Ismail Omipidan, said as good as the intention of the project might appear to be, its timing isn’t appropriate, considering that the Sallah celebration is coming just a week, after the water disruption started.
He said, ‘A lot of water will be needed for use during this celebration. And because there are so many of us that do not believe in borehole water, it will be difficult for us to cope during this celebration.
‘To this end, I am appealing on behalf of hundreds of Abuja residents, to give us the opportunity of enjoying an uninterrupted water supply during this Sallah festival.
‘Please, consider having the work carried out immediately after Sallah’, the journalist in the latter, which he posted on his Facebook platform and it went viral on various social groups platforms.
Aside from coinciding with the Sallah, Mr. Tahir Ahmad from Kubwa, said the notice given by the board was too short.
To him, such a notice should be issued at least five days before the disruption of the supply starts so as to give residents the time to store water.
He said, ‘I wonder why the management would not announce such a plan much earlier to give residents more time to prepare.
‘You can see how the residents have been plunged into a water crisis just two days into the disruption. I can’t imagine what will happen in the next few days. This is a violation of the rights of the citizens’, Ahmad added.
Daily Trust learnt that the general hospital in Kubwa was also affected by the disruption.
Although management of the hospital refused to talk to our reporters, staff and relatives of patients on admission confirmed that some of them now buy water.
A staff of the hospital, who preferred to remain anonymous, said the situation had forced families of the people on admission to go out in search of water.
He said, the cleaning of the wards and conveniences in the hospital that were usually carried in short intervals had been seriously affected.
Daily Trust reporter, who was at Kubwa, observed that most of the available boreholes could not be powered as a result of power failure, which started on Saturday afternoon.
Wike orders temporary reprieve
Meanwhile, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has directed a temporary reprieve during the Sallah festivities.
A statement yesterday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, said ‘To mitigate the effects of the partial shutdown, the two plants under rehabilitation will be temporarily activated to supply water during the Sallah celebration.
According to the statement, the FCT Water Board operates four water treatment plants with a combined capacity of 30,000m³/hour, divided into Phases 1 to 4. Due to inefficiencies, the plants are currently producing below capacity, necessitating rehabilitation.
The statement said the contract for the upgrade was awarded to SCC Nigeria Limited, which is currently replacing electro-mechanical equipment in Phases 1 and 2.
‘The rehabilitation works have reached an advanced stage on Phases 1 and 2 where the Electro-mechanical equipment, which is the prime mover of the treatment plants are to be replaced and reinstalled.
‘This requires a total shutdown of the two interconnected plants. While Phases 3 and 4 remain operational, they cannot fully meet demand, leading to partial disruptions in supply.
‘Consequently, in order to minimise the adverse effects on the FCT residents, the Water Board has made a time table on rationing by alternating between Lines 1 and 2 of the distribution network’.
The statment urged residents to ‘store enough water to cater for their needs during this period as supply will be rationed’.
