14 August 2007
Dakar — A community in south-eastern Mauritania desperately needs latrines and potable water after a flash flood wiped out its water and health infrastructure, the population vulnerable to disease, government and UN officials say.
Up to two-thirds of Tintane's population of 16,000 lost their homes and are living in tents and makeshift shelters in five temporary sites - none of which have latrines.
"They defecate on the street, right beside their tents even," said Niang Saidou Doro of the Mauritanian Ministry of Health. "It's a risk."
Heavy rains beginning 7 August killed two people, left an unconfirmed number missing and displaced up to 2,500 families in Tintane, a Sahelian town in a valley at the foot of the El-Aguer mountain chain in Mauritania's Hodh El-Gharbi region.
The flooding destroyed homes, knocked over trees, and wiped out crucial infrastructure, including a dam, the health centre and over three kilometres of water pipes.
"The whole sanitary system has been destroyed," Didier Laye, interim UN resident coordinator for Mauritania, told IRIN. "Potable water and health are the top priorities."
"The main problem now is not with food,"added Nicole Jacquet, deputy country director for the World Food Programme (WFP). "The main problem is with water, because the canal aqueduct has been destroyed... We are worried the water is not drinkable." The government and foreign donors have provided emergency food for the displaced people, and the WFP has food stocks to last at least one month.
"We still need help"
Humanitarian workers are concerned that without preventative medicines and proper health and sanitation infrastructure, waterborne diseases like cholera and diarrhoea will begin spreading.
The Health Ministry's Niang said children have been bathing in the stagnant flood waters. "There are even people who drink it," he said.
Over the weekend, the Mauritanian government appealed for international aid to rebuild the town. Libya, Tunisia and Morocco have already promised emergency items, including tents, food, blankets and medicine.
The items have not yet arrived, however, and even when they do, they will not be enough to deal with the health and sanitation needs, Niang told IRIN."We still need help."
Health officials are using the high school as a hospital, but they need beds, materials for assisting births, refrigerators to keep vaccines cold and disinfectants. Niang said the community also needs mosquito nets as malaria is widespread.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
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