TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Government and communities in Andoni Local Government Area of the state, has disagreed over the alleged cholera outbreak in LGA.
Yesterday, some natives claimed that cholera outbreak had claimed 10 persons in some communities in the LGA, as a result no potable water.
The Youth President of Ngo and Chairman of Ngo Owerekoto Community Youth Leaders Forum,
Anthony Ngere, maintained that they had suffered recorded some deaths.
He said: “The cholera outbreak is in Andoni. So far, we have recommended 10 persons – adults and children. My message is for the state government to come to the aid of my people.
“We want them to provide us drinkable water. And they should come and sanitize the area. We don’t have a source of potable water. The water we drink is from the well. That is why we are calling on the state government and Ministry of Health to come and help us,” he appealed.
According to him, the affected communities had been suffering the endemic since of June, this year
But, when Daily Sun contacted the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Mrs. Caroline Wali, she debunked the allegation of cholera outbreak in the LGA.
Mrs. Wali said that what the ministry has observed in the area was the existence of ‘acute watering diarrhoea,’ stressing medical report has not shown the existence of cholera.
She acknowledged the poor state of drinkable water in Andoni LGA, which was as a result of the area’s terrain.
The ministry official stated that the people engage in open defecation in the river, which the residents still drink and use for cooking, as well as other domestic usage.
According to her because of the terrain, the ministry has recommended to the state government for the provision of industrial boreholes in the area.
“The ministry has gone to that area. It has not even been confirmed it is cholera. Even the time the Director, Public Health, they couldn’t even find the person they were talking about.
“The way of the lives of the people has contributed to most of these things. The ministry has recommended that they (government) put industrial boreholes in the communities in Andoni. They have a very terrible terrain.”
She, however, disclosed that the state government was on top of the matter, assuring that there was no cause for an alarm.