PARAMARIBO – “The Indigenous villages of Zanderij, Witsanti and Bernharddorp have been hit by a serious water shortage,” said the Association of Indigenous Village Chiefs in Suriname (VIDS).

Ortwin Cairo who is in charge of the SWM water station at Republiek explained that three wells went ‘offline’ and that this resulted in a drop in the amount of water that could be delivered. “Meanwhile two wells are back online. Things are expected to be back to normal this Friday,” said Cairo who added that water trucks delivered water to the local communities.

Lilian Armaketo, resident of Witsanti, still has not noticed any improvement. “We haven’t seen a single drop of water coming out of the faucets these past couple of days. We can’t take a shower,” said Armaketo. Ivana Vincke who also resides in Witsanti hopes that the water problem will be a thing of the past soon. “Water is essential. The children who go to school also need water. Due to this problem the school closes at 10 a.m.,” said Vincke. Most of the villagers reportedly use water from the creek’s and swamps…[+]