Temperature - European Investment Bank

WEST AFRICAN POWER POOL (WAPP) PÖYRY ENERGY LTD.
Mount Coffee HPP ESIA and RAP 2012-09-18
ESIA Report Page 120
crossed site of the project, which covers 15 health facilities. This population is
estimated at end 2010 to 132,921 inhabitants.
Limited access to safe drinking water
Pipe-borne water facilities are severely limited in the 2 health districts like other rural
districts of the Country. The direct consequence is an inadequate provision of safe and
secured water to the population with effects on health, productivity and quality of life
which lead to negative trends in terms of socio-economic development. This lack of
clean/potable water supply services has serious implications on the development of
water borne diseases. It is also important to note that the limited hygiene of drinking
water in the study area is highly dominated by the diversity of sources, the conditions of
transportation and storage and the relatively low level of knowledge on water-related
diseases.
The population, especially women and children, spend considerable time every day in
fetching water. This is further complicated during periods of drought when communities
are forced to cover long distances for getting water for themselves and their livestock.
Almost the whole population in the area is sourcing drinking water from traditional
dwellers, tube wells and creeks. Hence, the current supply was found to be both
inadequate and far less than the demand.
Poor sanitation status
Due to the shortage of reliable and up-to-date data, it was not possible for the team to
assess the sanitation and even the water supply coverage in the 2 districts. However, we
noted that the average number of households that have access to improved sanitation is
very low. This is a matter of public health concern as it is actually known that 60% of
the overall disease burden is related to poor sanitation and hygiene. The main reasons
for limited access to sanitation service are low implementation rate and lack of
awareness of the people to sanitation services. The majority of the population is not
accustomed to hand washing and proper management of human wastes and garbage
disposal. In all villages, more than half of people explain the non-use of soap by
economic constraints. However, the benefits of hand washing with soap to prevent
diseases are well known by them.
Some of the reasons for this low level of sanitation include: lack of awareness of
communities on sanitation service, lack of linkage between water and sanitation, and
limited resource allocated for its development, etc. The constraints on the use of latrines
are mainly economic. From the group discussions, awareness of the benefits to owning
and using a latrine is expressed by three arguments: avoid illness, provide comfort to
family members, and avoid shame in case one has visitors.
17.2.2.2 Health Infrastructures and Services
As a reminder, health districts ensure the implementation of integrated basic health care
at the operational level of the health pyramid. The project’s zone of influence mainly
includes 2 health districts, which are Careysburg and Saint Paul River. These health
districts include 15 health facilities of which a District Hospital (Bensonville Hospital),
one health center (Nyehn Health Center) and 12 clinics. The health care supply is
therefore mainly public (13 health facilities) with only 3 private clinics (2 private forprofit
and 1 non-profit).