Water shortage still acute

A water shortage that began three weeks ago in Monrovia is still acute, but the government is doing everything "humanly possible" to solve the problem, Deputy Minister for Administration Arthur Saye told IRIN.

The problem is a "technical one", Saye said on Thursday. "Technicians are doing their best" to resolve it. "We agree that there is a water shortage in Monrovia," he added. "The Ministry of Health and the European Union (EU) are trying to supply water to the city residents."

Saye said the problem, caused by broken pipes, had been dragging on for some three weeks because of "logistics". "We do not have any company in the country that produces the kind of spare parts needed to mend the broken pipes," he said. "We are however working very closely with other partners like the EU and other organisations to solve the problem."

He said he could not confirm or deny fears, reported in the media, that diseases such as cholera or dysentery might break out as a result of the water shortage which, Monrovia residents and news organisations said, had led to an accumulation of sewage in the town. "I am waiting for our technicians who are currently out in the field to give us the right account
of what the situation is like," Saye said.