Some residents of Gwagwa and Waru communities, suburbs of Abuja, have appealed to the Federal Government to provide them potable water and public toilets.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday that the provisions of these facilities would afford them to live a healthy live.

The Sarkin-Yakin of Gwagwa, Alhaji Jafaru Gwagwa, said that the community was faced with having access to potable water, saying the only source was from a well.

He expressed regrets that wells dug for the community by private individuals hardly supply enough water especially during the dry season.

According to him, most people usually take turns before getting water to fetch from the wells for all purposes, saying more needed to be done to provide for the people in the community.

“When you look at Gwagwa community, we have lots of challenges. One of it is the issue of potable water, most times, what we use is well water.

“Ironically, the water from the gutter flows into some of the wells.

“Since it is the only source of water in the community, the people are, usually, left with the option of using the water the way it is.

“We want the Federal Government and the FCT Administration to come to our rescue, so that our children will stop falling ill from something that can be prevented.”

Gwagwa said children from the community usually fall sick from cholera and diarrhoea, saying this had led to most of them not being punctual at schools.

This had brought untold hardships on their parents, he said.

The community leader also said that they lacked enough public toilets adding that most residents would, most times, have to N20 each before they could use it.

He said that most people did not build toilets in their houses but always preferred to defecate in the bush to defecate.

“Most of the people in this community usually defecate in the bush, if it is late at night, some prefer to do it in nylons or somewhere and throw them away in the bush in the morning.”

Also, residents of Waru community in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) urged the various agencies of government to provide them potable water.

Its spokesman, Mr Isuwa Kura, told NAN that inadequate water supply was affecting the community’s social and economic growth.

Kura said that the two boreholes and the stream, the main sources of water were insufficient to serve the community.

“As I speak with you, we have just two boreholes for a population of no fewer than 3,000 people.

“The village has been facing lack of potable water for several years, but the residents are beginning to heave a sigh of relief, as they now draw water from the borehole donated to the community by the AMAC Chairman in 2011.

“We are, however, calling on relevant stakeholders to do more to improve water sources for us,’’ he said.

Kura also pleaded with the relevant government agencies to provide potable water to the newly-built Primary Health Centre, saying lack of it had affected its services to the people.

He said that the centre’s health workers usually to be on the same queue with community members at the borehole points.

This trend had to be quickly addressed by the government, he said.

He said providing water would improve the nation’s development, particularly in the areas of child health, nutrition and education.

Speaking on sanitation, Kura commended the community on improved hygiene, saying that this had prevented the outbreak of water-borne diseases.