By Ndumbe Bell Gaston in Douala
The MTN has redoubled its determination to create more access to portable water points in less privileged rural communities also as a measure to stop the spread of water borne deseases.
The MTN Foundation is reported to have been celebrating the World Water Week since last August 27-31 themed “Water, ecosystems and human development”, when they made this declaration.
The Foundation is challenged because of alarming statistics sourced from the international community that over 2.4 billion people especially in developing countries are in alarming deficit to portable water and adequate sanitary conditions.
The Foundation is equally aware that the Stockholm International Water Institute that always organizes World Water Week, says the United Nations calls for a strong mobilization in favour of access to portable water notably in developing countries being that portable water is at the epicenter of sustainable development.
According to the MTN Foundation, their activities till date have resulted in the construction of 46 portable water access points supplying to 170.000 people across all the regions of the country.
« The portable water points built by MTN Foundation are varied, notably manual pump wells built in partnership with the Otélé Water project, boreholes built within the framework of several partnerships with organisms such as GIZ and entire portable water supply projects with a distribution network such as that in the locality of Nzemelen located some 25 kilometers from Dschang in the West region. There are also the points undergoing constructing in the villages of young Farmers of the Ministry of Agriculture in Nlobesse (South Region) and Wassande of the Adamawa Region, » reports the Foundation. Portable water access points and latrines have also been built in schools.