(ERGO) – Thousands of people in Burgabo town in Somalia’s Lower Jubba region are facing extreme water shortage due to prevailing drought and poor rains.
The coastal town, which lies 7o km south of Kismayu, has received little rain during the last Deyr season, leaving dams that serve the town dry.
As a result of the water shortage, at least 3,000 families including farmers and fishing community are being forced to buy water from commercial tankers that truck water to them from 60 km away.
Abdirahim Mohamed Ismail, a fisherman inBurgabo, has been buying water since January. He told Radio Ergo that his family of seven survives on the little water they can afford to buy from tankers.
According to Ismail, water is sold in the town at 20,000 Somali shillings (approximately $1) for 20 litres.
“I am a fisherman and my average daily income is 150,000 shillings (about $7.5) and out of this, I spend 40,000 ($2) to buy water for the family and the rest for other family needs. For me, this is an extra burden, but I have no alternative,” Ismail said.
Ismail, who has been a fisherman in this area for six years, terms the current water shortage the worst he has known in the town.
“The situation is extreme; a whole family cannot survive with 40 litres of water for 48 hours. We do not wash our clothes let alone taking a bath,” he explained.
“The situation is getting worse day after day and the town is on the brink of disease outbreaks. All the dams which we were relying on have dried up.”
Bari Hassan is another resident in the town with a family of 12 members. He cannot afford to buy water and share with his neighbours but says he can no longer survive that way.
Bari, who was previously a farmer, works as a broker at the bus station, where he earns small money to buy food for his family.
“I get less than 25,000 ($12.5 dollars) per week – even sometimes I do not get that amount so I cannot afford to buy water for the family,” he said.
According to Bari, people from the town met with officials from Jubbalandstate authority’s interior ministry to request help with water trucking.
