Urbanisation and rural-urban migration could soon overwhelm the water supply in Hargeisa, capital of Somalia’s self-declared republic of Somaliland, with city officials calling for the construction of a third pipeline to offset increasing shortages.
“The city’s water supply system has not been improved since the mid-1980s, yet more and more people are migrating from the countryside to Hargeisa, Khalif Aw Abdillahi, manager of the Hargeisa water agency, told IRIN. “We produce 9,000 cubic meters of water daily [which serves 150,000 persons], which is not enough for the city population [of about 900,000].”
[...] “The ministry’s statistics indicate that 45 percent of Hargeisa residents do not receive the international standard quantity of water,” he said, adding that the average was 14l per person per day in urban areas while in rural areas it was 8l per person per day.
A former manager of the Hargeisa water agency, Ahmed Ali Dable, said Hargeisa needed at least 27,000 cubic metres of water per day. He said the city [...] has had persistent water shortages in the past several years, especially in the north and south of the city, where most residents buy water from vendors with donkey carts.
Muhumed Aw Ahmed, a water vendor in Hargeisa, said: “I sell almost 20 barrels per day during the rainy season, compared to the dry season when I sell only seven to 10 barrels per day.” His customers are mostly internally displaced persons living in various camps around the city.
Ali Sheikh Omar Qabil, director of environmental health in the Ministry of Health and Labour, said: “In 2000, only 35 percent of the population had access to clean water, unlike recent years [when] more than 45-50 percent of the population receive clean water.”
Moreover, Abdillahi said: “We are [currently] seeking alternatives to increase Hargeisa’s water supply”
However, the officials expressed concern about funding the additional water sources in the city.
Source: IRIN
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