By Saikou Suwareh Jabai from NBR
Communities in the Lower Niumi District, North Bank Region have lamented the urgent need for more water supply in their 
settlements as they face serious water shortage.
This reporter visited the constituency last weekend and spoke to community leaders about the issue and they described the situation as an ‘emergency’ and therefore needs urgent assistance.
The Alkalo of Medina Mennen, Momodou Jallow, said the biggest problem in the village is water supply and said this continues to affect the livelihood of the people in the community. He said the village development committee has strived to get assistance but its efforts have not borne fruits for now. He said the village has only two line wells which both the people and livestock depend on for drinking and other domestic uses.
The village head called on the government to look into their situation and assist them with boreholes to remedy the situation.
The Chairman of the village development committee, Amadou Bah, said water is fundamental to life and that when it is scarce, it threatens life and agricultural production. He said the village has a population of about two thousand people and that they depend on only two line wells which they share with their animals. These wells, he added, were donated by an NGO in the region. He appealed to the government and civil society organizations to help them in boosting the water supply. ‘If we have water boreholes, we can be able to have good and adequate drinking water. This will increase agricultural production too as our women are in dire need of water as they want to initiate community vegetable gardens.
The VDC Chair also noted that the village needs adequate fertilizer to help enhance productivity during rainy season. He said the provision of fertilizer will help the farmers greatly as all the habitants in the village depend on agriculture for livelihood.
Kumba Bah, the vice president of the women association in the village, said the women of the village want to create a vegetable garden and help their respective families but that this dream can only be a reality if authorities help them with boreholes or other water facilities where they can source water for their gardens. She said the present volume of water is not even enough for domestic use and therefore, the said wells cannot serve the purpose of their gardens. She, on behalf of the women in the village, called on the government and other institutions to consider their plight and assist boost their water supply.
Amadou Joof of Bulum village and Jane Faye of Fafading village, expressed quite similar remarks and appealed to authorities for assistance.
