The age-old trek of African women to collect water from distant rivers and dirty ponds is once more a feature of the continent. Millions of women must take the old paths through the bush because an estimated 50,000 recent boreholes, pumps and wells installed with foreign aid are lying derelict for want of basic maintenance.
So claims a new report presented last week at the , a triennial summit, in Istanbul, Turkey.
鈥淚t is not enough to drill a well and walk away,鈥� says report author Jamie Skinner of the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development. 鈥淵ou can rarely declare 鈥榡ob done鈥� with any confidence.鈥�
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He estimates $300 million of investment has been wasted, undermining the UN Millennium Development Goal of bringing clean water to half of the world鈥檚 estimated billion people still without it.
鈥淚n the Menaka region of Mali, 80% of wells are dysfunctional,鈥� Skinner reports. 鈥淚n northern Ghana, 58% require repair.鈥�
Key problems, he says, are bad design and poor construction. Aid agencies like to use local contractors, because it provides work and helps local economies. But Skinner says many are slipshod, corrupt or incompetent.
Agencies also like to give 鈥渙wnership鈥� of the water sources to villages, encouraging local people to set up committees to collect fees and pay for maintenance. While fine in theory, this often doesn鈥檛 work and when repairs are needed the kitty is empty.
