Monrovia, Paynesville and surrounding communities will be without pipe-borne water for an unspecified period of time due to what the management of the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC) described as “double casualty”.
According to the Communication Director of LWSC, Nimpson Todd, both of the corporation’s transmission pipeline experienced separate raptures on early Thursday morning.
Todd said technicians of the corporation on early Thursday morning discovered the separate breaks on both transmission pipelines while normal supply and distribution were on-going across the city.
“It’s so sad that we will have to endure these kinds of situations all the time,” Todd said.
The rapture of the sixteen-inch transmission pipeline comes barely a day after another spot on the facility was repaired and water restored via the system.
According to the corporation’s spokesperson, the new rapture on the recently repaired sixteen-inch transmission pipeline, at a different location, means that supply and distribution of water to several communities on the Bushrod Island and adjacent communities will be disrupted.
The management of the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC) also disclosed that several communities, including Paynesville, Johnsonville, Gardnersville, Barnersville and RIA Highway will be without water as a result of the Thursday, January 21, 2021 rapture of its facilities.
The corporation, through its communication head, further disclosed that Congo Town, Sinkor, Kakata Highway and central Monrovia are additional communities affected by the incident.
“We are so saddened, and it frustrates our efforts to adequately serve our people,” Nimpson Todd further asserted.
The LWSC’s communication director blamed the rapture, or break down, to what he calls an aged-old infrastructure.
Todd however refused to state how long these communities will be without water, noting that LWSC technicians were assessing the damage for what he called “a rapid repair”.
“We are frustrated at this point. I cannot state the level of damage and how long our people will be without water. All I can say is both our transmission pipelines are down; they got raptured at different locations following recent repairs,” LWSC’s communication director told the media.
According the Nimpson Todd, the current infrastructure at the corporation has outlived its usefulness, and there is a rapid need for the system to be replaced.
“Since 1967, the current system at LWSC has been in existence, serving the Liberian people; it’s about time that this aged-old infrastructure be replaced to meet with the current population size of our city and its surroundings,” Todd narrated.
The LWSC spokesperson noted that, at the time the infrastructure was constructed, it was meant to serve about 400,000 inhabitants and had a lifespan of 25 years, but unfortunately the system is currently serving over 1 million inhabitants and has lasted for over 50 years.
Todd however reaffirmed the corporation’s commitment to restoring water supply to the affected communities at the soonest possible time as, according to him, water is life and his management does not take pleasure in reneging on its responsibilities.
“At this point, I would like to announce that His Excellency, our President George Weah, has himself expressed the need for the infrastructure to be replaced so as to enable the LWSC to serve his people well, without hindrance,” Todd disclosed.
Nimpson Todd added that the CDC-led government has committed itself to sourcing funding for the replacement of the aged-old infrastructure.
According to the LWSC chief spokesman, the World Bank has also committed itself and approved some funding toward procuring a new transmission system for the LWSC.
“The problem with our system is not this government, but this government is making frantic efforts to have the entire system replaced,” Todd noted.
“Though I cannot state now how long the affected communities will be without water, I can assure the public and the areas concerned that water is coming soon,” Todd said optimistically.
LWSC has had incessant breakdown of its thirty-six and sixteen-inch transmission pipeline due to what the corporation calls an “aged-old infrastructure”.