Vickie Onyekuru, Chairperson, African Women Water Sanitation and Hygiene Network (AWWASHNET), has said that the proliferation of water boreholes in Nigerian cities can cause tremor.
Onyekuru, who stated this during a sensitisation campaign on healthy lifestyle through the use of clean water to Ishaga community in Meiran, Alomosho Local government area of Lagos State, on Monday.
She maintained that “manholes created by the boreholes easily prompt earthquakes.”
She described the digging of private holes as uneconomical and more expensive as each family would spend about N2,000 monthly to buy water, whereas government would charge N1,000 monthly as ware rate.
During the campaign, the group educated the residents, mostly women, on the need to reject the plan to hand over Lagos water to private businessmen, whose main aim, she added, would be to maximise profit.
Veronica Ivoke, AWWASHNET, Coordinating Officer, told the residents, most of whom had no inkling that Lagos was planning to privatise water resources in the state, that the masses would bear the brunt of water privatisation.
“We campaign against privatisation and unhygienic lifestyle. We are sensitising the public on the effect of water privatisation on health and economy.
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“If the environment is dirty, there would be illnesses, and the money meant for upkeep would be used to settle hospital bills,” she added.
Chief Opeoluwa Adeleye, Chairman, Ishaga Landlords’ Association, disclosed that the community had been depending on private boreholes and underground wells for water, as almost every building had a borehole.
Onyekuru described the best source of water as public water works, as the portability of the borehole water could not be guaranteed.
Chief Seye Amusan, the Baale of Ishaga community, urged the residents to maintain a hygienic lifestyle.
The group charged the residents to put political office aspirants to task on what they would do when voted into office, in order to earn their votes.
The group also conducted free medical tests and distributing some drugs to the participants, during the exercise.
