The residents of the area known as the Pink Jungle off Pickstock street in Belize City have been in an uproar since Friday when their standpipe was disconnected.
For many in this depressed area, who cannot afford to connect to the water main - the standpipe is their only means of potable water - and now that they've been without it for 120 hours, their lives have become very uncomfortable.
We spoke to two residents today about the importance of the stand-pipe and the pain of its absence:
Resident
"Well, the current state is that some of the children don't even have water to bathe to go to school. We can't wash, cook, wash the dishes, or flush the toilet."
Resident
"I went to the hospital last night because I felt so bad. I can't drink my pills. I couldn't play my boledo because I was at hospital."
Reporter
"Since Friday you all have not had any water, how have you all survived?"
Resident
"We have to buy water from the people who do have water, from the neighbor. My aunt just begged the neighbor for a cup of water to drink her pills."
Resident
"See, the water is right here. Look at how many pills. Every hour I have to drink pills. I have no water to do anything."
Resident
"The people who have don't really want to sell the water either. So, we have to go outside and buy it. That means that we have to buy the 5-gallon water. That makes no sense because some children can't even feed their children through here some days. How will they afford to buy water? And they are all single mothers."
Resident
"From yesterday, I can't change my night gown because I don't have anything else to wear that it's clean. I can't wash."
Reporter
"If it continues like this, what do you see will happen next?"
Resident
"We'll have to walk and go to Belmopan smelling stink. They won't be able to stand the smell."
The good news is that their cries have been heard and this evening BWS started work to reconnect the pipe.
A press release from the company this morning said that, quote,"The disconnection was as a result of a direct request from the Ministry of Finance for a temporary disconnection in order to remove the standpipe to make repairs to it due to abuse and excessive leakage which had resulted in the bills increasing to in excess of three thousand dollars monthly."
The release adds that over the years, the stand pipe…has had to undergo several major repairs due to carelessness and vandalism.
Area representative Said Musa has written o BWSL demanding that it be fixed and called it an arbitrary and misguided act to disconnect it.
Workers say it should be reconnected by tomorrow...
