Tukpese community Tasks FCT for water, basic amenities
NAN-AE-
Water
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, Oct. 5, 2016 (NAN) Residents of Tukpese Community in Abaji Area Council in the FCT, on Wednesday, called on relevant authorities in the territory to provide water and other basic amenities for the benefit of inhabitants.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview that inadequate water supply and basic amenities made life difficult and unbearable for them in the community.
According to them, it is important for the FCT Administration and philanthropists, to provide a source of potable water to reduce the number of children dying from water-borne diseases in the village.
Some of the residents who spoke to NAN said women and girls usually spend long hours searching for water in distant streams and rivers, saying that this is not making them have time to source for livelihood.
The Village Head, Alhaji Tanko Iliya, told NAN that the only school in the community had leaking roofs which were not conducive for learning.
He said there were no recreation centres and other relaxation spots in the community which was close to the nations’ capital, saying this trend needed to be reversed.
“We don’t have water at all, we go to far places to get water from the streams and rivers, the water is dirty, but that is the only source of water we have here.
““Since it is the only source of water in the community, the people are usually, left with the option of using the water the way it is.
“We want the Federal Government and the FCT Administration to come to our rescue; so that our children will stop falling ill from preventable disease and water borne diseases.”
Iliya said children from the community usually fall sick from cholera and diarrhoea, saying this had led to most of them not being punctual at schools.
A resident of the less than 1,000 inhabitants, Dorcas Yunusa, told NAN that she had to trek long distances before getting water for domestic use, saying this had caused untold hardship to most women.
Yunusa said women in the community gave birth at home and through the use of traditional birth attendants, saying the only health centre had no infrastructure for delivery to take place.
According to her, a large number of them have died while giving birth, saying in most cases, the children died due to lack of emergency response to arrest pregnancy complications.
Another resident, Asabe Adama-Nahilo, called on relevant authorities to provide access roads to the community, saying there were difficulty in conveying farm products to the markets.
“We need road in this community, cars find it difficult to get into this place, they have to park at a distant place and use motorcycles.
“It is very difficult to take our goods into the market, some of us have fell on different occasions,while climbing motorcycles into town.” (NAN)
(Edited by Deji Abdulwahab/ Julius Enehikhuere)