Elvis Tah
30 March 2008
The recent acute shortage of water in Buea has been blamed on poor management by the National Water Corporation, SNEC, and some local communities.
A Cameroonian PhD student in the University of McGill, Canada, Fidelis Folifac, made the revelation Tuesday, March 25, during a round table water policy dialogue in Fakoship, Buea.
Folifac, who is undertaking a research on participatory stakeholder governance and decision-making in municipal water supply services in Buea, said government needs to step up its investment on the water sector.
His finding revealed that the only two water sources for Buea; the German spring at Upper Farms and the Musole water treatment plant in Great Soppo, have a storage capacity of 4000 cubic metres during the rainy, which does not meet the 5000 cubic metres demand by the population. The situation even gets worse during the dry season when the water level drops, his study stated.
According to his finding, about 90 percent of Buea population perceive the water quality as good but said the quality of services was inadequate. The population decried among others, exorbitant bills and frequent water cuts.
Folifac established that there is over centralisation in SNEC, and it takes a very long time for them to connect their subscribers. Incorrect metre readings, high penalty for late payment of bills, poor customer services, corruption etc were highlighted as some of the problems the population face with SNEC.
Other problems that result to water shortage include leakages from broken pipes, illegal connections and inadequate pipe network, poor design and mismanagement of water catchments etc.
He also blamed the local population for farming and building houses around water catchments. He recommended that water catchments should be improved upon and more water storage and distribution facilities be created.
40 Water Catchments Funded By SOWEDA
A representative of the Southwest Development Authority, SOWEDA, Augusta Epulli, stated that SOWEDA 40 executed water catchments schemes in the Buea zone but some local inhabitants mismanaged some of the projects.
She cited uncompleted water schemes in Muea and Bonjongo due to conflicts and greed by certain individuals.She said Eucalyptus trees at the foot of the mountain causes aridity, stating that they should be replaced with water friendly trees.
On his part, Buea Mayor, Charles Mbella Moki, invited the entire community to participate in addressing the water problem in the municipality. The Mayor regretted that some individuals exhibit irresponsible behaviour by diverting community water into their farms or vandalising pipes meant for community water supply.
He said the water problem in Buea will soon be over, given that SNEC is undertaking reforms to improve on their services.Folifac's supervisor, George Nkeng, Associate Professor of Engineering, University of Buea, facilitated the discourse. Southwest Water and Energy Delegate and other local stakeholders participated in the dialogue.
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