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SOURCE WATER AND SANITATION WEEKLY
Issue no.19-20, 24 May 1999
Source Weekly is part of the Source News Service, a joint endeavor of
the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and the
IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. Other products are the
bi-monthly Source Bulletin and Source Archive:
http://www.wsscc.org/source/ <http://www.wsscc.org/source/>
Circulation: 1183
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ANGOLA: ALTERNATIVE HAND DUG WELL LININGS
Investigations into Alternative Hand Dug Well Linings in Angola is the
topic of an MSc thesis being prepared by Sam Godfrey at the Water
Engineering Development Center (WEDC), Loughborough University, UK.
Communities in Angola are forced to rely on local materials for well
linings because of the civil war. The research will involve practical
tests of clay blocks as alternatives to reinforced concrete well linings
as well as a questionnaire to obtain comparable experiences and
solutions from other countries.
Contact: Sam Godfrey, fax: +44-1509-211079,
mailto:s.e.godfrey-98@student.lboro.ac.uk
<mailto:s.e.godfrey-98@student.lboro.ac.uk>
(E-mail message, 13 May 1999,
http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/water-and-san-applied-research/1999-05/0
017.html
<http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/water-and-san-applied-research/1999-05/
0017.html> )
MALAWI: POLLUTED RIVERS POSE HEALTH HAZARD
Industrial waste dumped illegally into some of Malawi's major rivers has
polluted village water supplies, according to a government official.
Budgetary and other constraints have prevented the Government from
enforcing the 1996 Environmental Management Act and fining the polluting
companies. A World Health Organization (WHO) official added that cholera
outbreaks, such as the one that claimed 260 lives in beginning of 1999
in Malawi, could be directly linked to polluted water.
Contact: Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs,
Private Bag 350, Lilongwe 3 Malawi, fax: +265-780260,
mailto:natresources@unima.wn.apc.org
<mailto:natresources@unima.wn.apc.org>
(UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 5 May 1999,
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/malawi/19990504.htm
<http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/malawi/19990504.htm> )
NIGERIA: CHOLERA OUTBREAKS
In an outbreak of cholera in Kano Municipal Local Government Area (LGA),
Kano State, a total of 815 cases with 28 deaths has been recorded up to
6 May 1999. The outbreak was traced to the interruption of the domestic
water supply for some days, which forced people to use any water
available. The outbreak has now spread to Tofa LGA where 182 cases with
19 deaths have been were recorded. Cholera outbreaks also occurred
recently in Adamawa State (76 cases, 18 deaths, now under control) and
in Edo State (49 cases 24 deaths). Both WHO and Medecins sans Frontieres
(MSF), Netherlands, are helping managing the outbreaks.
(Outbreak News / WHO, 12 May 1999,
http://www.who.int/emc/outbreak_news/n1999/may/n12may1999.html
<http://www.who.int/emc/outbreak_news/n1999/may/n12may1999.html> )
SOMALIA, GALGADUUD AND SOUTHERN MUDUG: SEVERE DROUGHT
A severe drought has caused a critical shortage of water for both humans
and livestock in Galgaduud and Southern Mudug, areas traditionally
receiving little humanitarian assistance. Attention has focussed on the
drought in other regions, notably in the Northeast, or Puntland, for
which UNICEF launched a US $1.3 million (EUR 1.2 million) appeal on 30
April 1999. Water prices in Galgaduud and Southern Mudug are high. As in
the rest of Somalia, the water infrastructure has partially collapsed
due to vandalism and neglect since the civil war. Before the delayed
rains in April 1999, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
transported water to the rainwater ground catchment tanks (berckads)
which hold about 200,000 litres. The ICRC is also repairing berckads.
Contact: ICRC Regional Delegation (Somalia), mailto:ICRC@arcc.or.ke
<mailto:ICRC@arcc.or.ke> , http://www.icrc.ch/ <http://www.icrc.ch/>
(Somalia: IRIN Special Report Galgaduud and Southern Mudug, 12 May 1999,
http://wwwnotes.reliefweb.int/files/rwdomino.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f
6004c8ad5/e73e25328c347923852567700051cdb1?OpenDocument
<http://wwwnotes.reliefweb.int/files/rwdomino.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564
f6004c8ad5/e73e25328c347923852567700051cdb1?OpenDocument> )
SOUTH AFRICA: MASSIVE CUT IN NUMBER OF MUNICIPALTIES PLANNED
In response to the growing number of financially collapsing councils,
South Africa plans to reduce by half the number of its municipalities
(now 843). At the end of 1999, the residents of Leandra in Mpumalanga
Province, including those who had paid their bills, suffered cuts in
their water supply as the water bill sky-rocketed to ZAR 1,5 million
(EUR 227,000). In response, the European Union has launched a ZAR 120
million (EUR 18.1 million) project to help strengthen local governments
in Mpumalanga and Northern Province. The Government has provided a ZAR 2
billion (EUR 303 million) new Equitable Share grant to allow some local
councils to continue to subsidize services for the poor. Prof. Patrick
Bond of the Wits University Graduate School of Public Development and
Management has meanwhile challenged the constitutional rights of cutting
services to residents, including those who have paid, in response to
financial crises. "If there is a right to water guaranteed in the
constitution, is the municipal financial crisis a good enough reason to
violate that right?"
(African Eye News Service, 17 May 1999,
http://www.africanews.org/south/southafrica/stories/19990517_feat32.html
<http://www.africanews.org/south/southafrica/stories/19990517_feat32.htm
l> )
SOUTH AFRICA: WORKING FOR WATER PROGRAMME
Alien plants like the Australian wattle, introduced into South Africa by
the forestry industry, are estimated to consume 3.3 billion m3 more
water than native vegetation each year. The Working for Water Programme
(1995 - present) of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
supports a variety of labour-intensive projects, now employing over
42,000 people, to eradicate such invasive alien plants. . Since January
1997, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) supports
Working for Water research conducted by Environtek at the Centre for
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Environtek is carrying out a
cost-benefit analysis to address concerns from the forestry industry
that the programme will reduce the economic benefits provided by some
alien plants.
For more information see:
http://www.saep.org/subject/water/waterworkingfor.htm
<http://www.saep.org/subject/water/waterworkingfor.htm>
Contact: Dr Guy Preston, Programme Leader, Working for Water, Ministry
of Water Affairs and Forestry, fax: +27-21-4621719,
mailto:conserve@cis.co.za <mailto:conserve@cis.co.za> ; Dr. Brian van
Wilgen, Scientific Advisor, Environmentek, CSIR, +27-21-8875142,
mailto:bvwilgen@csir.co.za <mailto:bvwilgen@csir.co.za>
(IDRC Reports, 21 May 1999,
http://www.idrc.ca/reports/read_article_english.cfm?article_num=405
<http://www.idrc.ca/reports/read_article_english.cfm?article_num=405> )
SOUTH AFRICA: SCHOOL WATER PROJECT WINS INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM
The Water Partnership Project, a collaboration between the Eastville and
John Graham Primary in South Africa, is one of the four United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) Global 500 laureates in the youth category.
The Project started in 1997 as part of the "2020 Vision for Water
Schools Project" initiated by Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry,
and now involves 3,000 schools nationwide. Eastville, located in a poor
Cape Town suburb, began with a water quality audit and has also set up a
community garden which involves 200 jobless persons and provides 200
families with vegetables. Cut-flowers are sold to buy educational
materials and to finance the school's water bills. John Graham School,
located in a middle class suburb, developed water saving initiatives
that are now part of a national school water policy.
(UNEP Press Release, 18 May 1999,
http://www.unep.org/unep/per/ipa/pressrel/r05-1899.001
<http://www.unep.org/unep/per/ipa/pressrel/r05-1899.001> )
ZAMBIA: EUR 1.6 MILLION FOR SCHOOL SANITATION
The State Minister for Health, Dr. Philip Byaruhanga, announced that UGS
2.7 billion (EUR 1.6 million) had been allocated for the construction of
school pit latrines countrywide in 1999, with Kampala district getting
50 pit latrines. "Studies have shown the girl child in Uganda is falling
out of school due to lack of sanitation facilities," he said. The
Minister was launching a sanitation survey report produced by the
Makerere University for the Kampala Central Division local council. The
State Minister for Energy, Capt. Francis Babu, said the poverty and
sanitation problem in Kampala is worse than that in rural areas.
Mr. A. Nuwagaba, Sociology Dept., Makerere University, PO Box 7062,
Kampala, Uganda, fax: +256-41-533640, http://www.muk.ac.ug/
<http://www.muk.ac.ug/> ; Ministry of Health, PO Box 8, Entebbe, Uganda
(New Vision, 5 May 1999,
http://www.africanews.org/east/uganda/stories/19990505_feat9.html
<http://www.africanews.org/east/uganda/stories/19990505_feat9.html> )
ZIMBABWE, HARARE: NEW WATER ACT PUT TO THE TEST
Zimbabwe's month-old Water Act will be put to the test against a major
seed exporting company accused of allowing raw sewerage to flow into to
Lake Manyame, Harare's prime water reservoir. The company, Seed Co, is
likely to face criminal charges and to be liable for civil damages
claim. In addition, remedial measures may cost the company as much as
ZWD 500,000 (EUR 12,400). Although Seed Co admitted it had dumped septic
tank effluent fluid to save the cost of hiring a professional waste
removal firm, it denied that the practice was a health or environmental
concern.
(Zimbabwe Standard, 9 May 1999,
http://www.africanews.org/environ/stories/19990509_feat1.html
<http://www.africanews.org/environ/stories/19990509_feat1.html> )
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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