Barely three months after leaving office as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan and his kinsmen in Otuoke community now face serious health implications from lack of portable water.
Elijah Ateki, the Chairman, Community Development Committee (CDC), Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa, has bemoaned the scarcity of potable water in the area.
Ateki said in Otuoke yesterday that lack of drinking water was the major problem in the community.
According to him, the situation is due to the pollution of rivers in the area by oil spilage.
He
said the community had suffered inadequate potable water over the
years, and urged the State and Federal Governments to provide the people
with potable water.
'Otuoke community depends on
rivers and now that all the rivers are polluted by oil, it is difficult
for us to get potable water here,' Ateki said.
Emmanuel Agede,
a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving in the
area, expressed dissatisfaction with the situation and called for
government’s intervention.
'You will not believe
it that here in Otuoke, we use water from an unused suck-away pit dug
near our lodge, for washing clothes and bathing.
'For
cooking and drinking, we buy sachet water; life is very difficult here;
we spend the bulk of our monthly allowances on water for survival.'
