13th March, 2013
Group Managing Director of the Lagos State Water Corporation, LSWC, Engineer Shayo Holloway, has attributed the muddy water flowing out of public taps in Ojota to rehabilitation works ongoing at Adiyan water works.
In an interview with P.M.NEWS, Holloway described the muddy water coming out of taps in the area as sediments being washed out when water supply was restored to the area after a temporary stoppage.
The water engineer also assured that the problem had been rectified.
“The unfortunate incident which occurred at Ojota was due to a disruption in production at Adiyan water works. When there is distruption, there will be little or no production. So, when we reinstated production, the first wave of water that was produced washed out sediments which, ordinarily, are in all the pipes.
“Water pipes all over the world have sediments. Once you have constant production, the sediments remain in the pipe and your treated water flows over them. But for the fact that we shut down production, the head of water pushed these sediments out. That was responsible for the situation in Ojota,” Engineer Holloway explained.
The Lagos water corporation boss disclosed that as soon as his corporation received complaints from the residents on the quality of water in the area, his men moved there and flushed the mains by opening the water hydrants.
“As soon as we got complaints about the quality of water at Ojota, my men embarked on flushing the mains by opening the water hydrants, to flush out the sediments.
“It wasn’t a function of the bad quality of the water. It was due to interruption from the rehabilitation,” he stated.
Engineer Holloway assured that the situation had been normalised, adding that his men would be more pro-active in tackling such problems as from now on.
But P.M.NEWS investigations at Ojota yesterday revealed that most of the public taps there were dry.
Water supply to some of the streets we visited showed that the situation is yet to improve.
In some of the streets visited by our correspondent, dry public taps were observed while residents lamented that they had not seen water in the last three or four weeks.
At Ogunleti and Alhaji Kazeem streets, the public taps there were dry. Residents rely solely on hawkers for their water needs.
On Ojudu road, Ojota, there is water but not suitable for human consumption.
When our correspondent sought the reaction of Alhaja Bilikisu Raji, a landlady on Ogudu Road, she said: ”Let’s go to the public tap so that you will see what you want to write about yourself.” On getting to the tap, the water coming out was yellowish.
“It is even better today than what we had a few days ago.
“If you were here three or four weeks ago, you will marvel at what was coming out of our taps. Infact, it was as dirty as gutter water. It is only God that knows when we will start having good water in this area,” she said.
A chemical seller at Alhaji Kazeem Street, Chibuike Udoka, thanked P.M.NEWS for highlighting the plight of residents.
”That first story you carried was very correct. You don’t need to bother yourself looking for any additional story again.
“What is it that works in Nigeria? Go and turn that tap over there and see if water will come out of it? What we drink is ‘pure water’ and we rely on malams to get the ones that we use for house chores. If you wait for like five minutes, you will see those malams with their jerry cans,” he said.
A food seller who simply identified herself as Mama Ada on Ogudu Road near the local government secretariat, however, said there has been an improvement in the quality of water supplied to the area. “Before, the water was muddy but now it is a bit better, even though, it is yellowish. We can’t drink it. We rely on water vendors for cooking water,” she stated.
Another resident, Segun Onibeju, who resides at Ogunleti Street, Ojota, also lamented the absence of functioning public taps on many streets. “Check our street and go to others, you will not find any functioning public tap. Maybe those in private homes are enjoying water but those of us who rely on public taps are not getting water. That is the truth,” he said.
—Yisa Jamiu