March 24, 2016 By Victoria Saffa
A senior official of a water resource non-governmental organisation in Sierra Leone says the government should take action in ensuring that 37.4 percent of Sierra Leoneans living without water are provided with access to clean water.
Water Aid Programme Director, Chiuchu Selma, who oversees both Sierra Leone and Liberia, says there are currently an estimated 2.36 million Sierra Leoneans living without access to clean water.
“On world water day, we call upon our governments and leaders around the world to keep the promises made in the UN Global goals on sustainable development and ensure everyone is able to realise their rights to access to clean water by 2030,” he says.
At the just concluded observance of World Water Day, Water Aid reminds governments to adhere to UN promises on global goals of sustainable development, extreme poverty eradication and the creation of a fairer sustainable world.
Among the global goals promised by the UN was goal number six – which promised to reach everyone the world over – with clean water and access to safe and private toilets by 2030.
“This promise is achievable but will take a serious political shift and financing to get there,” a Water Aid report concludes.
The report reveals that in the developed world the standard rate for water bill is about 0.11 percent in relation to the income of someone earning a minimum wage.
However, in Madagascar for instance, a person reliant on a tanker truck for water supply would spend almost 45 percent of their daily income on water to get the recommended daily minimum supply.
In Mozambique, families relying on black-market vendor will spend up to 100 times as much on water as those reached by government subsidised tap-stands.
In fact, about 650 million people worldwide are still without access to clean water, and more than 2.3 billion lack access to basic sanitation resulting in devastating health hazard conditions.
About 315,000 children below age five die each year of diarrhea, which is link to inaccessibility to clean water, good sanitation and hygiene such as washing hands with soap.
The report further ranks countries based on the rates of household access to water in relation to the highest population without access to water. A list of countries that have made most improvements within the past 15 years was also included.