Water shortage hits Brazzaville

Residents of Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo (ROC), have been on a constant search for water since their taps dried up on Wednesday following a breakdown at a pumping station in the north of the city. "It is painful and annoying after a long day's work to have to go out again and look for water," Laurent Mbemba, a civil servant who lives in Moungali suburb, said. "This is really regrettable for a city next to the Congo River, a river known to be one of the most powerful in the world," he added. City residents have resorted to transporting water in drums by cars, taxis, pushcarts and wheelbarrows. The price of water at private boreholes has more than doubled. Previously, 25 litres of water cost 50 francs CFA (US $0.09) but now costs 100 francs, and sometimes 150 francs. Water sometimes returns to the taps for a short while late at night but always goes off again by the morning. The technical director of the water utility, Société nationale de distribution d'eau or SNDE, Gustave Foundoux, said on Sunday on national television that the problem was being resolved. "This wasn't what we wanted," he said. "The people who are suffering should to be reassured that the men and women of SNDE are resolutely working on the situation." However, he added that Brazzaville's water problems were likely to continue. The utility is only capable of supplying water to 500,000 residents and has not kept pace with population growth, which is now at 850,000. "We have an infrastructure that no longer works," he said.