Gibi District Alarms Over Unhygienic Conditions

Residents of the Gibi District in Margibi County have expressed serious concern about the dreadful hygienic condition under which they live. The District suffers from the inaccessibility of safe drinking water, healthcare, as well as the lack of latrines, among others.

In few of the Towns, there are inactive hand pumps and wells not beneficial to the dwellers. These facilities, installed by the National Red Cross since 2001, have been situated in the area and abandoned damaged for the past ten years.

Residents told the New Dawn-Liberia that they resulted to fetching drinking water from creeks and water from long existing wells, which at times, cause diarrhea and chloral among them, including children leading to untold deaths.

n Lonfay Town, the General Town Chief, Ma Miatta Lackay disclosed to this paper that they usually dig swamps with their hands in the morning and wait until the evening hours for water highly contaminated. She is quoted by our correspondent as saying that residents of the town even defecate in bushes-something she described as very unhygienic.

“My son, it is not easy to make life in this Gibi District, most especially in Lonfay Town- no safe drinking water; as you can see the pumps and wells that were helping us here are all damaged since ten years now.”

“As for the latrines, we can use the bushes to ease ourselves, and this is very bad because many of us can suffer from diarrhea and chloral, especially when the rain washes the thing into the creeks and swamps we use for drinking,” she explained, also noting: “the worst thing about it is that some people can even die while on their way to the hospital in Kakata because the distance is too far. “

“In 2011, one man called Yango died from the same problem in this town. Just imagine we can dig the swamps with our hands in the morning and wait until the evening time just to get small water to use for drinking and bathing; and the water can really be sting, but what to do?”

She appealed for the intervention of the government and non-government organizations in aiding the district with safe-drinking water and latrine facilities. The situation in Lonfay Town is the same in Valehyen, Doimu, Harris Town, Yah Town, Dukuly Town, Peter Town, as well as Nana Town, Gortor Town Paye Town, among others.

Over nine thousand people are said to be residing in the Gibi District- a community. This area is described by some of the residents as one of the most abandoned places in Liberia by the government and NGO’s.