Orugu to aid Freetown water crisis Water consultants have said the Orugu river is a solution to the water supply in Freetown. Stakeholders were involved at a workshop on the improvement of the water supply and sanitation sectors at the Council of Churches auditorium in Freetown. ATKINS, a consulting firm from the UK assisted by other local partners including OXFAM and a local engineering firm 3BMD, examined the water and sanitation situation in the city with a view to finding a solution. Lead consultant of ATKINS, Richard Shepard, maintained that given the population explosion in the city, coupled with the alarming rate of development, the Orugu dam was the only lasting solution to the growing water supply demand by residents in the city. He noted that the current Guma supply to the city was 83 million litres a day which was equivalent to 16 million gallons a day. According to the consultant, the Orugu source of water supply in its first stage would provide the city with 75million litres per day equivalent to an additional 12 million gallons a day. He stressed that their studies on the Orugu source of water supply was in three stages as the first phase could provide the city with at least 28million gallons per day and the second and third stages tripling that number. Douglas Hunt, another ATKINS consultant, appealed to the government to halt development activities around within the catchment areas. On the question of sanitation, Jonathan Parkinson and Glen Hanna called on government to reintroduce rigid laws on health and sanitation. The acting Guma General manager, Ibrahim Wilson, explained that the current Guma facility could no longer cope with the alarming population explosion in the city.
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