YESTERDAY Wednesday 22nd April was World Water Day in the Solomon Islands.
The theme this year is sustainability, or “Iumi laekem wata fo stap olowe.”
Every week, a Solomon Islander dies as a result of poor access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.
Every day, the Solomon Islands’ Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) treats 146 cases of diarrhoea, according to 2014 data from MHMS’ Health Information System.
In 2012, seven out of 10 schools lacked safe, working water supplies, toilets and hand washing facilities, according to the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development.
One of the biggest water issues in the Solomon Islands is the lack of ownership and care for community water systems.
While water systems are being built by the government and its partners, some of these are not being looked after by communities, so they don’t last long.
As a result, funding is often diverted to rebuild broken systems, rather than installing new ones.
This reduces the number of people who can benefit from clean water supplies.
If more communities took responsibility for maintaining their water systems, more people would have access to clean water, and everyone’s health would improve.
Therefore, the MHMS Environmental Health Division is looking at ways to work with communities to help them decide for themselves how their water systems will be built and maintained, and who within the community be responsible for repairing it when it breaks down.
There are simple things that communities can do to help ensure they have access to clean water for longer.
“Simply spending $10 to replace a tap washer every two years, can make a system last up to 20 years. If all communities did this, it could save the country $3 million every year,” said MHMS Permanent Secretary Dr Tenneth Dalipanda.
To learn what you can do to help your community benefit from a safe, working water supply, listen to SIBC on Sunday, 26th April at 2pm for a talkback radio show with MHMS staff and partners.
Listeners will be invited to share experiences from around the country on what rural communities are doing to care for their water systems.
As part of the World Water Day celebrations, partners involved in rural water supply in the Solomon Islands are meeting to discuss ways they can help communities to manage their finances to maintain water supplies, and make water last forever.
