Water is one of the most wasted resources in the world as a whole. Liberia has six major rivers, two lakes, and a heavy rainfall running from April to October each year.  Yet, people all over the country struggle to find clean drinking water.

A recent study put out by Afrobarometer, a non-partisan research institute measuring social indicators across Africa, reveals that across the country, only 50 per cent of people report that they never have enough water.  Equally worrisome is Afrobarometer’s report that only 8 per cent always have enough. For a country so abundant in water, that so many people reporting that they lack the right to clean water should be of grave concern.

Water, this gift of God, is very important to all human around the world, with many governments and non governmental organizations spending millions of dollars annually to provide safe drinking water. Some of these funds are said to be spent in Africa – with Liberia being no exception – to provide safe drinking water for people who cannot find it.

Lack of safe drinking water in some places causes illnesses, that sometimes leads to death among poor people who can not access clean water, even though it is in abundant in Liberia.

The lack of safe drinking water is not only a problem in the hinterland of Liberia, but it is also a problem that needs to be address in the nation’s capital, Monrovia and its suburbs. The gravity of this problem is real:  steps needs to be taken to address the situation.

This is exactly the issue in Flahn Town,  along Somalia Drive, where over five thousand people probably are affected every day in Liberia by lack of access to safe water. Like many places elsewhere in Liberia, most have limited knowledge of prevention of illness, and there does not seem to be a possible solution to the problem.

The people of Flahn Town lack safe drinking water. Community members buy up 25 gallons of water a day from water sellers in the community – a strain on the low amounts of money in the community.

Water buying is not the only problem in the community; residents developed methods just to have safe drinking water to keep up their family.

“We wash the beach sand and placed it into a rice bag, hang it on a stick,” Jestina Kromah a resident of the community explained. “We then fetch the dirty water from the open well and dump it into the bag of sand for about 10-15 minutes to have it filtered.”

“We do this every day of the week, without this process, we can not have clean water to wash, take bath and cook our foods, our children sometimes drink the water only because they can not fine a saver one,”

Kromah said that her family spends a combined 6 – 7 hours collecting the water that they need for their daily living.

She added that to access water for drinking, they send their children access the street 15-20 minutes walk away from the community. Our children are being risked and no one in the country cares to address this issue, Jestina continues.

“The problem of water in this community is a very big, the water from the wells around here is not clean, it is not good for human consumption,” explained Lucky Adogbo, standing in the doorway of the small store he runs. “We filter the dirty water and use it to wash, take bath and cook. We purchase drinking water from water sellers on a daily basis. Water from hand pump is also the same as the wells, no one has come to test the water to find a solution.”

“We have the right to clean water, since our right can not be given, we just have to accept what is being given,” he added.

Entering deeper into Flahn Town, the hanging bags of sand kept appearing in nearly every yard and the people kept expressing the same problem about water: they complained of running stomach and itches whenever they the drink or use the water for shower.

“We put water in the bag to filter it, because it is very dirty, we use it to take bath and wash clothes. The water sometime itch my skin and cause running stomach in this community,” Beatrice Togba, an elderly woman explained.

What makes matter worse for the people of Flahn Town, the newly constructed hand pump can not even be use for drinking. The water is brown and appeared rusty, but it is sometime consumed by little children only due to the lack of a clean and a safe water, and a lack of education about water purity.

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The interesting part of this investigation came minutes after the interview with Beatrice Togba, when two men came in with a giant size wheel barrel full with gallons of water for sale. They explained exactly why they were during such business in Flahn Town.

“We are water seller; we do this every day to support our families, said Ballah Gayflor of the work done by he and his business partner. I bring in 42 of these five-gallon containers into this community and we do this two to three times daily for almost a year plus now.”

We get this water from the Liberia Water Sewage line around the Jamaica Road Bridge and roll it to this community in wheel barrel for about 45 minutes to an hour. Each gallon is sold for ten dollars and everyone buys from us,” Gayflor, noted, adding that he can earn up to one thousand dollars every day.

The presence of outsides in Flahn Town attracted lot of attention with many people asking questions whether we were from some NGO  that is going build hand pump in the area; we told them they we are journalists.

Kids on their way home from school stop to tell us what they knew about water problem in the community.

‘Water business is very hard in this community; the water is dirty and can   run our stomach when we drink it. Our parents told us not to drink the water from the hand pump but when no water we can drink it.’

Madam Victory Jlopleh is the Chairlady for the women in Flahn Town and lives next to the only hand pump in the town, she had these words to say.

“Since 1991 we came in this community there has been serious problems of water here. We walk long distances in search for clean drinking water; we go across the water to Darque Town to get clean water and we have being doing this for a long period of time. The people build us a hand pump but the water is brown, sometime we boiled it before we use it. We are calling on the government to come to our aid,” she pleaded

‘Under pillar IV of the government Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), the government intends to increase access to safe drinking water (from 25 to 50 percent by 2011 including 45 percent of the rural people population and ensure the sustainability of 90 percent of water and sanitation facilities in the country.)

As reflected in the PRS, clean and safe water is a resource that needs to be accessible to everyone.  Looking at the situation in Flahn Town brings into question whether or not this right is being addressed for Liberians.

It is a sunny day in West Point, one of the many slum communities in central Monrovia. This community is not only noted for crimes and violent acts by some former ex-combattants who have now turned into drug addicts, but is also noted for it’s filthiness. Many residents here are living in a deplorable state, something they say will create a health disaster if urgent measures are not taken to combat the growing wave of illness and disease in the area.

The Star of the Sea medical clinic is the only referal health center in West Point. A woman only identified as Mrs Bryant is one of the chief medical officers at this clinic. She says that the cases most commonly reported are malaria and diarrhea, which are caused by mosquitoe bites and contaminated drinking water.

“The huge pile of garbage and the pollution of the air as a result of some detroyed latrines are the major factors contributing to the increase.”

Mrs Bryant also noted that access to clean drinking water, which is important for every living being, is one of the problems facing the residents here. As a result of lack of safe drinking water, both children and adults are constantly diagnosed with diarrhea.

“Some of these illnesses are sometimes referred to bigger hospitals because of the lack of proper drugs to treat patients here,” she explained.

Mamie Gbarto is a patient at the clinic, who recently gave birth prematurely. She has been here for nearly three days. She says the health conditions in West Point are deplorable, and she is calling on government and humanitarian organizations to come to their aid.

David Mulbah works at a nearby drug store.

“Since the inception of the government of President Johnson-Sirleaf,” he says, “no concrete steps have been taken to address the many health issues confronting this community.”

Mulbah believes that the health conditions in the area will not improve if Government continues to abandon the plight of the people.

Most of the housing facilities in West Point are make-shift – something the residents say is further contributing to the health disaster looming over the community.

“My daughter is always sick because our house is leaking very badly,” says Monica Lee, a marketeer. She says mosquitoes, cockroaches, and flies have infested the area, spreading germs which contribute to high fevers in residents.

“The unfortunate thing is children are always the victims.”

Photo credit: David Vaucher (http://www.panoramio.com/user/166000?with_photo_id=3869193)

A resident of the St Paul Bridge community, Anthony, says the use of dynamite as a way of fishing is unsafe.

A fisherman himself, Anthony explained that dynamite pollutes the water and weakens the fish, making them unsafe for human consumption.

He admitted the use of the banned explosives by some fishermen in the St Paul Bridge, Jamaica Road, Popo Beach, and West Point areas. The dynamite, he explained, is brought into the country from Sierra Leone and Guinea – and costs less than buying nets.

Speaking to this situation, two elderly ladies who also live in the area confirmed the use of the explosives by fishermen in the St Paul River. Although it is not a common occurrence right now, they were quick to point out that it is done regularly during the dry season.

The acting Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Jerome Nyekan, says it is illegal to use dynamite as a means of catching fish.

The EPA boss said those in the habit of throwing poisonous substances into rivers and harming marine creatures should stop the bad practice. If caught, he explained, violators will pay a fine of up to 50 thousand US dollars, and spend as many as 25 years in jail.

He said the EPA, over the years, has trained 28 customs officers nation-wide to enable them to combat the illegal entry of dynamite and other substances into the country.

The EPA is also planning a nation-wide awareness jamboree during the dry season, to explain the dangers of dynamite and other substances unfriendly to the environment.

Photo credit: http://naghinuktok.blog.friendster.com/files/dynamited-fish1.jpg

Radio Kergheamahn Joseph Kerkulah explores why pregnant women in northern Liberia are dying at such a high rate. Liberia has one of the worst records in the world for pregnant women dying due to complications arising during pregnancy or childbirth. Kerkulah and jhr trainer Bonnie Allen travel to a rural village that does not have a medical clinic to interview midwives, pregnant women, and the families of women who died. The team discovers access to healthcare is particularly difficult during rainy season.

AIRED: First aired July 28, 2009. It was featured on a program called “Healthy Body.” It has since re-aired three times. Furthermore, an extended interview with Maternity Ward Supervisor Comfort Neufville also aired twice.

Click here to listen

jhr trainer remarks:
There are several successes in this piece. The reporter Joseph Kerkulah interviewed ordinary women who have never had the chance to speak out before. Normally, he avoids interviewing Liberians who speak a local dialect, such as Kpelle, because his program is in English. I showed him that we cannot discriminate against people due to language, and demonstrated how to translate interviews and edit clips with English voice-over. He also, for the first time, used natural sound in a radio item.

Despite the fact that Sierra Leone has signed the UN Citizen Charter on Consumer Protection, the rate of expired foods and products in the domestic market has been on the increase.

At the moment, the markets are flooded with products like Arrow Paste which expired in 2006, Glucose biscuits expired in May 2009 and Tiger Finger Batteries expired in May 2004 And these are only a few of many.

These products enter the country through border towns and by sea from Europe. In Sierra Leone it is the Standards Bureau that is responsible for checking the quality of these goods. Head of Standardization at the Sierra Leone Standard Bureau, Mr Amadu Bah stated that “even though routine checking is done, business people use local harbours to bring some of these goods into the country especially at night, using deceptive methods to bypass government officials like the National Revenue Authority, Standard Bureau and other partner agencies.”

He noted that when products arrive into the country there should be six months left for them to expire and this check is carried out at the Queen Elizabeth II quay. “If any of these imported products are found to be expired then the vessel is sent back or the product is dumped.” For instance, a rice vessel and also poultry that recently returned to where they came from. “At times when we are trying to dump certain groups create objections in protest of the goods not to be dumped in order to retrieve it for consumption,” Mr Bah added.

However, many of these products remain in the stores for months often because they are too expensive like tinned powdered milk, sardines and alcohol. And when they near expiry they are sold at attractive prices to street vendors who in turn sell it cheap to the consumer.

Consuming expired products can lead to sicknesses like skin rashes, diarrhea and frequent headaches. One consumer Aminata Dumbuya at Sackville Street expressed concern about expired products but stated that “due to poverty in this country consumer don’t want to know whether a product has expired or not, because of low price together can purchase it and consume.”

The lack of a Consumer Protection Act is a serious concern in this regard. According to Mr Abu Bakarr Kabbah, president of the Consumer Protection Council, “there is a proposed draft bill that will be forwarded to parliament in a couple of weeks through the ministries of Trade and Presidential Affairs. Another problem is the lack of consumer education to tell people that cheaper products are not better.

Mabinty Kamara, a vendor at Sani Abacha Street noted that some consumers are highly aware of such expired products but still purchase it. “If the bill becomes law then stores will be forced to discard their goods to us much earlier and we will be happy to sell products that are safe and not expired,” she says.

One in eight pregnant women in Sierra Leone has a chance of dying at childbirth. Due to the lack of adequate medical services, they are being denied their basic human right to maternal health. According to UNICEF, presently Sierra Leone is ranked the worst country in the world in this respect.

Maternal mortality is a very complex and critical problem. David Shermutt of Amnesty International feels that it amounts to discrimination against women. “Governments should put more emphasis on this because it is only women who are dying,” he said.

Among the challenges faced by the gobernment are hospital conditions i.e. conditions of service for meducal and health workers, hospital policy and equaipments. There is no proper record system to record deaths cases as medical doctors are unable to account for deaths. There is the fear of cost factor as some women don’t go to the hospital because of the registration fee they have to pay.

There is also poor access to health information. There are primitive conceptions held by people living in rural and provincial areas; some women prefer traditional midwives who are not trained and use unsterilised equipment.

When President Ernest Bai Koroma came to power, he made combating the high rate of maternal mortality a priority of his government and launched the Reproductive Child Health Programme in February 2009. To combat and reduce the high rate of maternal mortality, the government and other major stakeholders including UNICEF, UNFPA and WHO have put in place various strategies.

According to Jonathan Abbas Kamaram the Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, the government has shown its strong commitment to take up this situation. They are trying to introduce a policy to cover free cost of reproductive health. “We are trying to make free care accessible to all pregnant women in the government hospitals,” he said.

The government is now on a caravan campaign to sensitise the mass public on the situation and how best we could prevent it. They are trying to encourage women to avoid local herbalists and go to the hospitals. At the same time they are also looking into condition of service for medical and health officers to avoid brain drain of experts. Recently the ministry launched the ‘mami en pikin well bodi week’ which is one of their initiatives to combat maternal mortality.

However, more needs to be done in terms of practicalisation. According to Dr, Rashidatu Kamara of Connaught Hospital, “the government should also try to combat the high rate of teenage pregnancy.” Solomon Sobangdi, coordinator at Amnesty International feels that instead of talking endlessly about it, the government should enforce practical measures. There needs to be more education, stronger monitoring and increasing women’s awareness of their right to emergency obstetric care.

For more information contact Jonathan Abbas Kamara, Ministry of Health and Sanitation at 076678021

Photo Credit: http://sierraleone1968-70.blogspot.com/2008/09/warren-van-hoos-was-peace-corps.html

In late spring Liberian journalist Charles Yates got a tip that that runoff from a rubber plantation was creating severe toxic pollution in North East Liberia. As a result of the training he received from jhr (Journalists for Human Rights) he realized that many people’s rights were being violated, particularly their right to a clean and healthy environment, and that a story might be able to apply pressure on the right authorities.

While researching his story Charles discovered that pollution from the Firestone Rubber Plantation had caused outbreaks of skin disease, had polluted drinking water, had made fish unsafe for consumption and that there were at least two reports of death directly linked to the pollution.

Yates had his story published in The Inquirer, one of Liberia’s primary newspapers. Soon after, Radio UNMIL, the United Nations Monrovia based radio station, picked up and broadcasted the story. The story then reached Liberia’s president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who consequently ordered audits to be conducted throughout the plantation.

Read the full original article below.

Firestone Pollutes Six Villages In Margibi District

EPA Tights Lipped On The Issue While Advocacy Group Warns of Danger

Water severely polutted from a rubber plantation in North East Liberia.

Six villages within district # 3 in lower Margibi County are experiencing severe toxic pollution as the result of wastes flowing from the Firestone Liberia plantation. They have lost their rights to a clean and healthy environment, and describe the great health hazard this has brought to their community.

The villages are now experiencing an outbreak of skin diseases, polluted drinking water and a lack of fish safe for human consumption. One baby was recently born with a missing arm, and there are at least two reports of death directly linked to the pollution. The affected areas are not in the range of Firestone Concession Agreement area, the village elders disclosed, but instead just downstream.

One town directly hit by this unfriendly environmental practice is the Kparyah Town. It sits just downstream from the source of the pollution – several cracks in a large pipe belonging to Firestone. The pipe pours constantly into a marsh that is now black from the pollution. A smell rising off the wetland makes it barely possible to stand in the terrain for five minutes.

Wilfred B. David, head elder of Kparyah Town explained they do not eat any fish from the creek anymore and their crops also do not grow anymore because of the hazardous pollution leeching from Firestone. Villagers discovered and reported the pollution in 2002. Since then nothing had been done to correct the problem by government or Firestone.

“We have informed our county authorities about the situation and some of them have also come on the scene and have experienced this pollution for themselves but they have not taken any steps against the Management of Firestone,” David lamented. Other villagers alleged that the wastes that are being dumped in the creek are taken from septic tanks, the factory as well as somehuman, and hospital wastes.

The villagers further disclosed that as the result of the constant toxic pollution into the creek fishes and marines are dying on a daily basis and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia is not doing anything to prevent the situation.

Villagers also described Firestone management regularly showing up to mock them by asking – with chide laughs – if the village has any fish for sale, before driving off. This has incensed residents.

Local youths have threatened to stage a demonstration if the government of Liberia does not take quick measures to curtail the ongoing situation. Youth leader, Sam S. Gaye promised that his youth group will set up road blocks and the protest will be violent if nothing is done to arrest the looming environmental crisis. “We can not continue to live in this kind of atmosphere anymore. Our children are dying and our food production is reducing greatly,” he stated.

Public Relations officer of Firestone Liberia , Mr. Rufus Karmoh, refused to comment on the related issue besides presenting a statement on Firestone Liberia’s Environmental Practices. In the statement, Firestone Liberia did not specifically reference the pollution allegation, but boasted that the company is practicing sound environmental stewardship that is positively impacting the lives of Liberians.

The statement explains that Firestone Liberia continuously communicates with its neighbors and with those in surrounding communities. “By gathering information and constantly reviewing its operations, the company is able to identify any environmental issues and address them in timely manner,” the release stated.

The release added that the company recently constructed a new state-of-the-art, multimillion-dollar water treatment facility that processes water from its factory through equalization and clarification tanks and into its constructed wetlands on the company’s property for natural, biological treatment. On site investigations could not establish where this ’state-of-the-art’ facility was, or how it applies to the pollution affecting Kparyah Town .

Other than acknowledging that receipt of information the pollution issue, EPA head Jerome Nyakan refused to comment on the matter but promised to respond to the issue in later date.

A different source at the EPA explained that the EPA received information on the issue as early as 2008, and dispatched a team of investigators on the scene. The source, who wished to remain unnamed due to restrictions in speaking to the press, said the investigators discovered that indeed the pollution was taking place and recommendation was made to the Firestone management. The source did not state what actually came out of said recommendation.

Liberia Environmental Watch’s Director, Morris T. Koffa has warned that if the government of Liberia does nothing to hold Firestone to the book, future consequences will be great and to the detriment of Liberians.

The environmental advocacy group boss, who is based in the United States of America, said that information emanating from Firestone must claim the attention of the national government and the lawmakers. Mr. Koffa said these wastes from the factory contain hazardous chemicals that can cause long time effect on the lives of the victims and the surrounding environment on which they depend.

He used the occasion to call on the Liberia Environmental Lawyers Association to join the victims in the fight to address the issue. Mr. Koffa said it is true that the victims are financially incapacitated to drag the Management of Firestone to court but with the help and support of the environmental lawyers their dream can come to reality. “This is a serious concern and the EPA must get involved,” Mr. Koffa angrily told this paper from his US-based residence via mobile phone.

The environmental expert warned that if the government of Liberia does not rush in to rescue its citizens from the degradation of the environment they depend on for a safe and healthy environment, the future consequences will be severe and the government will be held responsible for the damage.