Goodhope SSS hit by critical water shortage

MARANYANE NGWANAAMOTHO
Staff Writer | Friday February 19, 2010 00:00

It is alleged that students and some staff members started using water from the tanks about a fortnight ago as the school experienced yet another water supply problem.  

Some students told Mmegi yesterday that they have gone without water for more than two weeks and that they have resorted to using water from the tanks after they lost hope, despite promises that the situation would return to normal in a few days.  'We need water for almost everything and right now there are only two tanks that we are drinking and bathing from.  The water is not safe but we have no choice,' one student said, on condition of anonymity. 

Students alleged that water in the tanks has been there since the beginning of the rainy season.  'Some water comes out green and from the other tank it comes out with worms in it,' a student claimed.  The scholar claim to have started developing stomach pains, peeling of skin, rash on their bodies and swelling of legs the moment they started drinking water from the tanks.  They claim that the number of students who fall sick keeps on rising though there have been no reports of severe cases. 

Deputy school head Chandapiwa Dladla denied the allegations of students falling sick, saying that she was unaware of the problem. 'I don't know anything about it and I'm not in a position to talk about it.  Wait for the headmaster, maybe he can give you details about that issue,' she said.   Her boss Edwin Keatimilwe, however, confirmed that the school has always had a serious water shortage.  He said that for the past days the school was without water, and that students were drinking water kept in tanks for use in case of a fire outbreak.  

When commenting on the matter of students falling sick from drinking tank water, Keatimilwe said that he could not say for sure that they got sick as a result of drinking the water because no tests had been done to determine the cause of the ailment.  'Yes, students and one staff member have complained of stomach problems.  This morning I asked a nurse to come and test our water and food because last year we had an incidence where students had stomach problems from the food they bought from women who used to sell at the school gate,' he said. 

He however confirmed that water from the tanks could be very dangerous especially if it had been there for more than a year.  'However, I do not expecte children to be getting sick from drinking from the tanks because we once used the water and it could not have stayed for more than a year,' he said. Senior Assistant Council Secretary of Goodhope Patrick Ncaagae told Mmegi that indeed the village has a water shortage problem.  He confirmed that the school had always had water problems, and that the council arranged a temporary means of easing the crisis.

'That school is a village on its own, it's a big community and it needs a powerful and permanent water supply.  However, the council has arranged a temporary pipeline from Lobatse to supply water,' he said.  He explained that the reason for the school to keep on having water shortages is because the water pipe is on top of the ground, which means it requires regular maintenance. 

He said that Goodhope and five other villages are supplied by one borehole, which is not coping with the demand.  'This borehole is too small to be supplying such huge communities,' he said. However, Ncaagae promised that Local Government was working on a permanent design to solve the problem for all the communities involved.