Soldiers of the Việt Nam Army Corps of Engineers’ team instruct local people on how to collect water from a clean water supply station outside the Highway barracks in Abyei area, Africa. — Photo courtesy of Việt Nam Department of Peacekeeping Operations

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Army Corps of Engineers’ team in Abyei region, Africa, has installed a clean water supply station outside the Highway barracks, to serve local people near the barracks.

The Abyei region is now in the dry season while the local people are almost entirely dependent on water from wells dug by the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), or even relying on stagnant water puddles.

The team said that the water was treated with a water filtration system that meets the United Nations standards. The water pipes are put underground to minimise damage.

The water supply is available from 9-11am and 3-5pm, with an average daily flow of 6-8 cubic metres.

At first, the team will arrange officers and employees to guide the local people to collect water, and install a notice board to help them to know the time and how to get water correctly.

Major Vũ Trí Xuyên, deputy captain of the team, said: “Through our work at the UNISFA Mission, we knew some of the difficulties of the local people in the Abyei area, especially the needs to use water during the dry season.

“Most local people depend on stagnant puddles for daily drinking water,” he said.

Local children get clean water from a clean water supply station of the Việt Nam Army Corps of Engineers’ team, outside the Highway barracks in Abyei region, Africa. — Photo courtesy of Việt Nam Department of Peacekeeping Operations

Therefore, the team planned to install the clean water supply station near the barracks to support local people’s water needs.

After the clean water supply station was operation, not only the local people near the barracks but also many people from far away came to get water, he said.

The team would upgrade the system to be able to provide 10 - 12 cubic metres of water daily, meeting the clean water needs of people in the central Abyei area in the coming time, he added.

He also said that the local people around the barracks area were grateful and thanked the team because they could use clean water instead of using water from stagnant puddles or having to go very far to get water from local rivers and lakes.

In addition to installing the clean water supply station for local people, the team also provides clean water, which is treated with RO filters and can be drunk directly, to Abyei Church every Friday so local people and the children at the church’s kindergarten can drink clean water. — VNS