Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water, Sanitation Jan -Feb 2014 Vol.10 No1 | Page 6

NEWS in brief

Around Africa

Liberia
Sasstown Chief Appeals for Latrines, Hand Pumps
The
Town
Chief
of
Sasstown, Klay
District
in
Bomi County,
Cole Sekou, is
appealing to
g over nment
and its partners
to construct
hand pumps
Well with children in Bomi county, Liberia
and latrines in
the town to
address its sanitation problem.
Town Chief Sekou said Sasstown, which is divided into five
blocks, has a population of over 3,500 residents but lacks
basic sanitation facilities.
Speaking in an interview with the Liberia News Agency
recently in Sasstown, Chief Sekou disclosed that Blocks A
and B have one pump each while Block C has two pumps
and the remaining two blocks have no pumps and latrines.
He said the water pumps and latrines that were constructed
in Old Sasstown five years ago have been damaged, leaving
residents of the town to fetch drinking water from creeks
and streams.
Chief Sekou also disclosed that residents use the bush as
latrine, noting that this practice is dangerous to the health
and well-being of the people.
Sasstown is located on the Monrovia-Tubmanburg
Highway and is famous for its usual weekly Market Day
where local produce are brought from various towns and
villages to be sold.

Malawi
Flood-hit Malawi faces aid deficit
International help and pledges fall far short of the
$65-million needed to deal with the disaster.
UK-based churches’ global development agency Christian
Aid is providing emergency assistance to deluged
communities in Malawi, in the aftermath of the worst
floods the country has seen in nearly two decades.
More than 630,000 people have been affected, with 120,000
of these displaced by the torrential rain and flooding which
hit the country’s southern districts a week ago, washing
away homes, livestock, crops and roads.
Development agencies are working to provide 40,000
people in Nsanje and Chikwawa districts with access to
6

Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • January - February 2015

clean water, toilets facilities and temporary shelter.
Existing water sources such as boreholes and wells have
been damaged or swept away, as have many public and
household latrines. There are growing fears that the few
remaining water sources could become contaminated,
leaving communities exposed to the threat of water-borne
diseases such as cholera.
Relief organizations will be building 50 latrines, distributing
1,800 water purification tablets and jerry-cans, and
constructing or rehabilitating 200 emergency sanitation