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Many areas of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are facing acute water scarcity, a development that has compelled residents to source water from any available alternative.
The Guardian learnt that for the past week, taps have run dry in several neighbourhoods across the nation’s capital.
Some of the areas affected include Gudu, Durumi, Prince and Princess Estate, Games Village, Lugbe, Apo, Gwarinpa, and other communities.Many thriving businesses and households that depend on a steady water supply have been left in distress.
Residents of some estates were seen on Monday carrying buckets around in search of water.
It was gathered that the shortage has disrupted daily life and created intense hardship for residents, who said such a prolonged water shortage is rare in the FCT.
A resident of one of the affected estates, Etim Etim, described the situation as unprecedented.
“I have lived here for five years, and I have never seen such a prolonged scarcity,” he lamented.
Another resident of Gwarinpa said the crisis began about two weeks ago, with the water supply becoming increasingly erratic.“Initially, we would get water for a few minutes before it stopped again for several days. I even have a friend in Maitama experiencing the same problem,” the resident said.
This is not the first time Abuja has suffered a major water shortage this year.
In June, Wike blamed a similar disruption on rehabilitation works at two of the four water treatment plants serving the city and its satellite towns.
At the time, his spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, announced that water supply would be rationed for two weeks to enable maintenance works, with the minister appealing for patience and assuring residents that the rehabilitation was intended to improve service delivery.
A source at the FCT Water Board office in Area 3, Garki, told The Guardian that many storage tanks supplying the city had been depleted, cutting off water supply to large parts of the metropolis.
The source attributed the disruption to bureaucratic delays in the approval of funds needed to purchase water treatment chemicals.
“The problem is that we have sent a request to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, for approval of money to purchase water treatment chemicals, but we have not received approval. The Minister requires all files to be sent to his office for approval. We are still waiting for the approval”, the source said.
An assistant director at the Water Board urged the minister to delegate some responsibilities to ease administrative bottlenecks.
“He should not be the only one approving all requests from every secretariat, department and agency. There are qualified technocrats within the FCTA who can handle such matters,” the official advised.
