(ERGO) – Severe water shortage has hit some parts of Hiiraan region after boreholes and the river Shabelle dried up. Dozens of self-organised youth in Beledweyne town have started trucking water to the areas worst affected by the water shortage.
Our reporter, Mohamed Hassan, has interviewed Mohamed Abdullahi Burale, one of youth in Beledweyne town.
Reporter: When did you start this campaign to deliver water to those areas?
Mohamed: We started last week and we have delivered to four areas. People there have been facing water shortage. The process is still ongoing. We are planning to reach new areas.
Reporter: So far how many water tankers have you dispatched to those areas?
Mohamed: We dispatched 31 water tankers to those areas. Each tanker contains 50 barrels of water. There are areas which cannot be reached for security reasons. The river dried up in some areas so at first, we trucked water to the areas farthest from the river but now we have also delivered water to the areas along the river.
Reporter: Which areas are you targeting?
Mohamed: One of them is a place called Gasle village, which lies 20km away from Beledweyne, while another one is Tulo-Hiran village which is not far from the river. The third one is Har-aday village and the last one is Sigalow village. So those are the four areas. We thank the owners of the wells who are charging a reduced price per water tanker. They did not treat us the same as the commercial water sellers. The owners of some water boozers also gave us a financial contribution to support our own.
Reporter: What was the total cost?
Mohamed: We spent $1,300.
Reporter: How did you secure the funds?
Mohamed: We got the finance through contributions among ourselves and people in the town like the traders who also contributed.
Reporter: How much did you (the youth) contribute each?
Mohamed: It was not a fixed amount but it was based on the capability of the person. For those who work, some paid $20 while some donated just $5.There are those who paid $3 or$2 and the highest paid $50.
Reporter: How did you collect the money?
Mohamed: We came together as youth from the region. We organized to collect from shop to shop. This is not the first time to collect money; whenever there are challenges, we just go to the people for contributions.
Reporter: What criteria did you use to deliver water to those areas?
Mohamed: We did an assessment and dispatched youth to do a survey. We visited the area before we trucked the water to those areas. The places near the river used to depend on the river that is now dry while other areas used to get water from boreholes but the boreholes dried up.
