http://allafrica.com/stories/200605310148.html
Daily Trust (Abuja)
May 31, 2006
Posted to the web May 31, 2006
Tashikalmah Hallah
Bauchi
An outbreak of a strange disease has killed about dozens people in Bar village, Bununu district, Tafawa Balewa local government area of Bauchi state with the villagers accusing the state governor, Ahmadu Adamu Mu'azu, of neglect.
The disease, according to the villagers, started in October 2003 and has made their lives miserable even as most of them have lost loved ones and in some cases an entire family wiped out as depicted in the story of Mallam Mamman.
Bar, a village of about 13000 people is a landlocked village. Separated by the Bununu river to the north and fenced by some hills both to the east and west, the village offers the beauty of nature and the villagers enjoys the beauty of their environment except for the disease.
When Daily Trust visited the village last weekend, the villagers had abandoned their farms which is their main preoccupation and resorted to prayers for God to deliver.
Mallam Muhammed Hadi, spokesman of the community, told Daily Trust that "the past three years were the worst in our lives. We have lost about 151 people between October, 2003 and December last year. As at now, the death toll has risen to 160, but this are the records of deaths we have."
In the three page list of those who have died as a result of the disease known as "kadan daga cikin wadanda suka mutu a sakamakon kashin ruwa maitsafta a garin Bar Bununu Tafawa Balewa local government, Bauchi state" [few of them died as a result of consuming impure water in Bar Bununu, Tafawa Balewa local government of Bauchi state] and made available to Daily Trust, Mallam Mamman Lumo was not the only man who lost an entire household as one Madaki lost 22 family members.
But, Professor Iliyasu Mohammed, Commissioner for Health in an interview, said the Bar problem has been taken care of since 2003, stressing that health officials have been sent to the village to assess the situation. He added that the government, in collaboration with the World Bank, is constructing a hospital in the village as part of effortS to boost the immunity level of the villagers.
A laboratory analysis conducted on both their wells and streams indicated that about 352 and 360 microbial [MF Technique] colonies were found, this is against the standard of MF Technique of less than 30 required in any drinking water. Also, their well's and stream's total water hardness were 185 and 39 against the standard 30-50.
Also, the cultured water analysis indicated that both their wells and streams have lower concentration of nitrate1 and 2, which is 0.080 and 0.034, 0.9 and 0.8 against the standard requirement of 0.10 and 0.50 respectively and higher Conductivity. In the wells and streams, the Conductivity level [µs\cm] were 700ms\cm and 141.8µs\cm, while the requirement in standard is 100-120.
Daily Trust reports that the villagers depend on a single well which was sunk in 1964 and a hand pump borehole sunk in 1988 but has remained dysfunctional.
However, when contacted, the chairman of Tafawa Balewa local government area, Alhaji Muhammad Bununu, said he is aware of the Bar problem and have given the villagers some money to repair their broken borehole, but the borehole was not functioning when Daily Trust visited the village.
Also, Alhaji Auwalu Ilela, the state Commissioner for Water Resources said government was not aware of the Bar problem, saying it was unfair for the villagers to accuse the governor of neglect.
He explained that the governor may not know everything, saying "there is a commissioner representing the area in the cabinet. They have a member in the House of Assembly and of course, the LG chairman. They should report these kinds of cases to the government I am surprised that none of them has done that."
He said that the government has awarded contract for the sinking of 23 hand pumps in the local government and the chairman, the state Commissioner for Education, Adamu Gumba and the member of the House of Assembly representing the area did not include Bar in the list of communities that benefited from the project.
"I will take up the matter. Thank you for the information. This is a real issue. It's an embarrassment to this government," he added
Daily Trust (Abuja)
May 31, 2006
Posted to the web May 31, 2006
Tashikalmah Hallah
Bauchi
An outbreak of a strange disease has killed about dozens people in Bar village, Bununu district, Tafawa Balewa local government area of Bauchi state with the villagers accusing the state governor, Ahmadu Adamu Mu'azu, of neglect.
The disease, according to the villagers, started in October 2003 and has made their lives miserable even as most of them have lost loved ones and in some cases an entire family wiped out as depicted in the story of Mallam Mamman.
Bar, a village of about 13000 people is a landlocked village. Separated by the Bununu river to the north and fenced by some hills both to the east and west, the village offers the beauty of nature and the villagers enjoys the beauty of their environment except for the disease.
When Daily Trust visited the village last weekend, the villagers had abandoned their farms which is their main preoccupation and resorted to prayers for God to deliver.
Mallam Muhammed Hadi, spokesman of the community, told Daily Trust that "the past three years were the worst in our lives. We have lost about 151 people between October, 2003 and December last year. As at now, the death toll has risen to 160, but this are the records of deaths we have."
In the three page list of those who have died as a result of the disease known as "kadan daga cikin wadanda suka mutu a sakamakon kashin ruwa maitsafta a garin Bar Bununu Tafawa Balewa local government, Bauchi state" [few of them died as a result of consuming impure water in Bar Bununu, Tafawa Balewa local government of Bauchi state] and made available to Daily Trust, Mallam Mamman Lumo was not the only man who lost an entire household as one Madaki lost 22 family members.
But, Professor Iliyasu Mohammed, Commissioner for Health in an interview, said the Bar problem has been taken care of since 2003, stressing that health officials have been sent to the village to assess the situation. He added that the government, in collaboration with the World Bank, is constructing a hospital in the village as part of effortS to boost the immunity level of the villagers.
A laboratory analysis conducted on both their wells and streams indicated that about 352 and 360 microbial [MF Technique] colonies were found, this is against the standard of MF Technique of less than 30 required in any drinking water. Also, their well's and stream's total water hardness were 185 and 39 against the standard 30-50.
Also, the cultured water analysis indicated that both their wells and streams have lower concentration of nitrate1 and 2, which is 0.080 and 0.034, 0.9 and 0.8 against the standard requirement of 0.10 and 0.50 respectively and higher Conductivity. In the wells and streams, the Conductivity level [µs\cm] were 700ms\cm and 141.8µs\cm, while the requirement in standard is 100-120.
Daily Trust reports that the villagers depend on a single well which was sunk in 1964 and a hand pump borehole sunk in 1988 but has remained dysfunctional.
However, when contacted, the chairman of Tafawa Balewa local government area, Alhaji Muhammad Bununu, said he is aware of the Bar problem and have given the villagers some money to repair their broken borehole, but the borehole was not functioning when Daily Trust visited the village.
Also, Alhaji Auwalu Ilela, the state Commissioner for Water Resources said government was not aware of the Bar problem, saying it was unfair for the villagers to accuse the governor of neglect.
He explained that the governor may not know everything, saying "there is a commissioner representing the area in the cabinet. They have a member in the House of Assembly and of course, the LG chairman. They should report these kinds of cases to the government I am surprised that none of them has done that."
He said that the government has awarded contract for the sinking of 23 hand pumps in the local government and the chairman, the state Commissioner for Education, Adamu Gumba and the member of the House of Assembly representing the area did not include Bar in the list of communities that benefited from the project.
"I will take up the matter. Thank you for the information. This is a real issue. It's an embarrassment to this government," he added
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