From Magnus Eze, Enugu
More than 20 units of modern water boreholes have been handed over to various communities in Afikpo-North and Afikpo-South Federal Constituency by their House of Representatives member, Idu Igariwey.
Igariwey said the gesture was to provide potable water to his constituents whose sources of natural water had drained because of the impacts of climate change.
He lamented that the few surviving sources of natural water in the area have also been polluted by recent industrial and economic activities, thereby making the people vulnerable to waterborne diseases.
Igariwey added that the hilly topography of some communities in the constituency has further made it difficult for the people to have easy access to potable water.
“Drilling the boreholes became a necessity when I noticed that the lives and the health of my people were in danger, I could not wait any further,’ Igariwey said.
He explained that each of the boreholes he inaugurated is powered by solar energy which will make the water readily available to the people at all times without the constraint of power failure.
The lawmaker expressed his determination to tackle water challenges in his constituency, stating that his desire is to make the constituency a reference point in the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal number 6, which focuses on the provision of clean water and sanitation to the people.
He listed some of the communities that have so far benefited from the water project to include: Unwana; Amukabi, Owutu-Edda, Amasiri, Mkpoghoro, Ozizza, Itim, Ohaisu, Ugwuegu community as well as Ekeukwu Market.
He assured other communities that are yet to be captured in the water project to be patient as he had listed them in another phase of the project which will be inaugurated in the coming weeks.
Expressing his appreciation to the legislator for his strategic and timely interventions in providing cleaner and alternative water sources for his people, a youth leader from Itim autonomous community, Mr Charles Egwu Isu, explained that villagers usually passed through great difficulties to get water.
He said: “Since many streams that normally gave us water either dried up or got contaminated, we could only survive on sachet water which was quite costly to come by.”
Isu added that the boreholes have saved the cost of water in his area as well as put waterborne diseases at bay in the villages.