Water problems persist for Talai-Gorobe settlers

PORT Moresby water manager and supplier Eda Ranu has called on city residents to be more responsible and take care of water equipment set up in their communities.
Eda Ranu made the call in light of a recent vandalism on a pressure reduction valve (PRV) which was set up in Badili Talai-Gorobe settlement in Moresby South electorate.
“Badili Talai-Gorobe issue is a classical case of abuse and negligence by certain groups or individuals whose behaviour is holding a whole community at ransom,” it said in a statement yesterday.
Eda Ranu claimed that the PRV set in the community was so badly damaged that water supply to the area was affected.
It said it had called on community leaders to round up the vandals so that they would face the law but no one had stepped forward to help.
Eda Ranu said the act of vandalism was reported to them last week and workmen were currently working on an alternative means of supplying water because it was difficult to control water supply without the PRV.
However, a Talai-Gorobe community leader claimed that water shortage had been an ongoing concern for the past two months.
Kairuku-Hiri MP Paru Aihi, whose electorate was in Central province, joined the community in attacking Eda Ranu saying that men, women and children lined up in numbers yesterday morning with hundreds of empty water containers at the market area to look for water.
Community leaders accused Eda Ranu for failing to attend to their immediate needs for that long.
They said water was a major problem in the area.
Some walked for miles with huge containers in search of water for household uses like cooking and sanitation purposes. 
Mr Aihi said during his time in the community, he had seen little Government services going to the area. 
He called on NCD Governor Powes Parkop and Moresby South MP Dame Carol Kidu to visit Talai-Gorobe and help address their issues.
“This is not about politics, it’s about lives and we are entitled to it,” Mr Aihi said.