Saun Dambui, a Ward councilor in Madang Urban, says most settlements in Madang town do not have access to clean running water and cannot practice safe hand washing practices.
In an interview with EMTV News, Dambui said most settlers cannot put into practice what they have been taught by the awareness group on COVID-19 preventative measures because of this mentioned fact.
Dambui explained that most of the settlements in Madang Urban use drains or dug out wells because they do not have access to clean running water.
Most of these nearby drains and wells are stagnant and dirty and considered unhygienic and unhealthy.
This problem is common in almost all the settlements visited recently by the COVID19 volunteer awareness group, Madang Art Maniacs, while carrying out awareness on the Global Pandemic.
MAM, were doing awareness in the settlements on the importance of washing hands with clean water when they identified the problem.
The settlers questioned how they would be able to protect themselves from COVID-19 if they do not have access to clean water.
Madang Art Maniacs has also been giving out cartoons of soap to settlers as part of its awareness in encouraging settlers to practice hand-washing.
These cartoons of soap are of no use if there is no clean running water.
Ward 8 councilor, Saun Dambui, appeals to relevant authorities in the province including the Madang District Development Authority to look into this problem.
The Madang Urban Local Level Government had carried out awareness in their own capacity in each of the wards through the ward councilors.
The awareness carried out by MULLG was done through the support of the Madang provincial Government.
Yet more needs to be done so most settlements can have access to clean running water in order for people to practice hand-washing.
By Martha Louis – EMTV News – Madang
