Water problem worries cop

A SENIOR police sergeant came close to losing his life from the deadly water-borne disease cholera last Tuesday.
Paul Buso, 35, contacted The National after reading the report published last Tuesday concerning the deteriorating living conditions of one of the police barracks in the capital.
Buso from Pomio in East New Britain resides with his family at the Ila Geno police barracks at Kaugere.
He said his family had been living without proper water supply to their home for the past eight years.
“My children and I have been drinking water from the taps outside the Kaugere settlement for years.”
He said water was collected from the rubber hose which was connected to the nearest tap from the  settlement.
Buso said sometimes the hose was put into the 44 gallon open drum to collect water for later use during the day.
“Every morning my wife and I would fetch water for cooking, bathing and drinking for our children before they leave for school and work. However, sometimes we don’t go to work at all,” he said.
Buso said lack of access to clean drinking water and poor sanitation had caused him to contract cholera and not only that his children had been victims of diarrhoea for the past years.
He said numerous inspection by police year after year had led to nothing.
“There is no stability in the force to assist officers and help improve living conditions for us and ourfamilies,” he added.
Buso is currently attached to the information communication technology directorate at the police headquarters for almost 20 years serving as a technician while his wife is a senior police constable at Badili police station.
“We have served the police force for 18 and 17 years respectively and yet the department is unable to take care of our family,” he added.
According to lands and building assistant commissioner of police Joab Mangae, the pipe water system into Ila Geno barracks was yet to be solved with Eda Ranu.
He said the Gordon police barracks was an eye sore adding that all regional, provincial and district housing facilities were run-down and needed renovation.
“Most of the police barracks buildings including houses, were built during the colonial times and efforts to maintain the buildings had been poor,” Mangae said.
He said the government in its supplementary budget in 2006 allocated K50 million for housing, however, that has not been enough to maintain all building structures.
“We can’t build or maintain existing structures due to financial constraints although we have the human capacity.
“Therefore, we cannot cope with new policemen and the renovation of new facilities,” he said.
He said all the building structures would needed to be pulled down and new ones rebuilt.
Attempts to contact Eda Ranu for comments were unsuccessful.