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The Managing Director of Guma Valley Water Company, Maada S. Kpenge intimated that Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown will experience water shortage next year due to early cessation of water spillage in this year’s wet season.
“Spillage ends today at the Guma Dam.
“It is going to be a long dry season,” Kpenge tweeted earlier this week.
Alie Kabba, Communication Manager of Guma also confirmed water shortage next year during an interview with Politico Newspaper.
Kabba said this is the first time for cessation of early spillage in twelve years.
What this mean is that the company will be forced to use reserved water early thereby leading to potential shortage.
Already parts of the capital experience water shortage with some communities only accessing pipe borne water twice a week even in the wet season.
The Guma Dam is located in a forested area in the Rural District of the country’s Western Area. The location was ideal due to thick forest that blanket the area but the company said human activities like deforestation around the dam is affecting the operation of the company.
The Guma Dam is the city’s largest reservoir and was built to serve a population of about 300,000.
There are plans to build another reservoir to capture the spilled water from the main dam but the company is struggling to get the necessary funds. Kabba said the company is currently seeking funds to build another facility close to River Number 2.
Although the said new facility could not fully solve the intermittent cut in water supply in Freetown, experts believe that it could help in solving acute water shortage in some communities in the city.
Streams and rivers have also got dried earlier in this month of September which is rare. God help us from this so called climate change impact.
This is true because there is or there are lots of water wastage in the city of Freetown. I was in somewhere along sscamp area yesterday where I observed water ossing out of one of the pipes. None of people around the area did not consider reporting to Guma.