Bangui — Residents in the western town of Bouar, the Central African Republic (CAR), have appealed to the government to help them access safe water in order to contain typhoid, which has been spreading there since December 2003 when the state water utility halted services.

State-owned Radio Centrafrique reported on Tuesday that the Bouar residents had asked the government to help them dig wells and equip them with water pumps.

The radio reported that since December 2003 when the utility, Sodeca, stopped providing water to Bouar "due to technical problems", the number of patients seeking treatment at health facilities for water-borne diseases had increased. These diseases include typhoid fever and parasitic infections.

Bouar residents currently walk long distances to reach natural water sources but most of them rely on swamp waters. The radio reported that in Bouar market, vegetables and meat were washed using unsafe water, hence the public's plea to the government to dig wells and install water pumps throughout the town, pending the repairs on Sodeca's installations.

Sodeca's failure to supply water has been attributed to equipment and lack of maintenance. The radio added that the town no longer had electric power nor received telecommunication services.

Unlike other towns in the northwest, Bouar was unaffected by the six-month rebellion that ended in March 2003, and that damaged most community facilities and services.

Bouar's water problem continues while the International Committee for Red Cross is implementing a 12-month water programme worth 763,000 Swiss francs (US $589,189), to repair the water supply system and to provide water purification chemicals in the capital, Bangui, and seven other provincial towns whose water systems were damaged during the rebellion.