Rédaction Africa Links 24 with lexpress
Published on 2024-04-06 02:40:00
The capital of the North is one of the large cities in Madagascar facing serious problems with water supply. The situation is “catastrophic” for this city, which is home to over one hundred and fifty thousand people, as the water shortage has been intensifying in recent times.
For almost a week, the majority of Antsiranais have been struggling to get clean drinking water, to cook, and to wash. The taps are turned off when the reservoirs that supply the city with water, located at PK 7, drop below 15% capacity.
While waiting for the situation to improve, the population is managing their daily water needs. The heavy rains that fell for four consecutive days allowed them to fill all their containers. However, once they have finished using this blessing from the sky, the ordeal continues. In the Morafeno neighborhood, residents draw water from their “vôvo.” But according to a mother, this solution has its limits as even these wells are starting to dry up due to the number of neighbors rushing to these water points.
The women of the Ambalakazaha neighborhood wait outside their door, as they do every morning, when water trickles out. In this densely populated neighborhood, not a drop of water has come out of the taps for four days. They are forced to travel to a small stream by the sea to fetch water, but with the distance and the poor condition of the road, they can’t do much. Their arm muscles are strained from carrying the jerry cans.
The tired population, tired of waking up in the middle of the night to fill their yellow jerry cans, is fed up with hearing the repeated phrase: “We will see about it up close.” For now, Jirama has faced insults on social media, at the market, and in the streets. It is described as exploitative. Some have even dared to threaten them.
“I come home from work at 9 p.m. In my neighborhood, you have to wait until 2 a.m. for the water to flow. So, I only have three hours to sleep, having to get up to fill over ten jerry cans and fifteen bottles until around 4:30 a.m.,” says Levelo, a father, an employee of a hotel, describing his daily life completely disrupted. Apparently, his wife’s eyes are lined with dark circles.
-Raheriniaina
Read the original article(French) on lexpress.mg
