Wyndham Hartley
3 July 2008
Cape Town — The Democratic Alliance (DA) is using the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to try to establish whether the death of 140 children i n Ukhahlamba in Eastern Cape was directly related to contaminated water supplies.
The DA's approach to the water affairs department to obtain information follows the deaths earlier this year as well as numerous reports indicating that water quality in some municipalities is increasingly below standard. Water Affairs Minister Lindiwe Hendricks has repeatedly given the assurance that water quality is monitored and where problems occur they are rectified.
She has also rejected suggestions SA is heading towards a water supply crisis similar to the one that affected electricity supply earlier this year.
At issue is the Water Quality Management System (WQMS) website. Registration with the department is required before it can be accessed for the monthly water quality reports published there. The DA had applied for a user name and a password but had not received them.
DA parliamentary leader Sandra Botha said in a statement yesterday she had decided to go the PAIA route because of "the escalation of public concern over the quality of drinking water that is being delivered by the government".
This was particularly after it was revealed that "more than 140 infants died ostensibly as a result of contaminated tap water, coupled with a lack of access to proper treatment for basic ailments such as diarrhoea".
She also said that 43 of 83 towns in Free State "have at one stage or another received 'code red' ratings according to the WQMS monthly d rinking-w ater q uality s ummary r eports, indicating the quality of the water was dangerously compromised for a number of consecutive months".
Furthermore , "many water boards deliver water to the public that contravenes safety standards and contains dangerously high levels of bacteria -- Amatola and Bushbuckridge are of particular concern ".
The department has 30 days to respond to the application.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
