MONROVIA – In February 2025 the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC) took President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to Bopolu city in Gbarpolu County to dedicate a US$250,000 Mini-Water Supply System that the LWSC disclosed was ready to supply water to residents of the city.
During the dedication on February 25, 2025, President Boakai urged the county’s residents to take good care, safeguard, and use the project responsibly. He noted the general public believes Liberians are really bad at maintenance. The President believed that the county’s residents should work to dispel this negative image and contribute to its durability by diligently adhering to its maintenance schedule.
A little over two and half months, residents of Bopolu city are not benefitting from the US$250,000 Mini-Water Supply System. According to OK FM reporter in Bopolu, the mini-water supply system is down and is not supplying water for residents, who have to fetch for safe-drinking water through handpumps that are very rare to find. The OK FM reporter quoted the residents as saying that the caretaker of the facilities told them that few days ago lighting strikes destroyed the submersible pump that supplies water into the reservoir. Accordingly, the caretaker said the water-well that was dug for water is not deep enough so water quickly runs dry.
The residents of Bopolu City according to the report have been enduring lack of safe-drinking water for about a week and that the situation is getting terrible as residents are seen moving around the city with jerrycans, buckets, gallons, tubs to fetch water for their daily use.
Meanwhile, responding to the situation on OK FM on Monday morning, the Managing Director of the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC), Mo Ali, did confirm the situation concerning the facilities not pumping water due to technical issues which the corporation is doing everything to fix.
According to MD Ali, the current operator of the mini-water supply system in Bopolu was selected from the County to go through training to serve as operator of the facility. But unfortunately, the Contractor had not trained the system’s local operator, which created a situation for the pump to fluctuate and the switch got damaged. “We had to get in touch with the contractor to get us a new switch, this time around an automatic switch which the contractors have installed on the pump. They are now there and we sent a team of technicians to observe it for the next two weeks,” the LWSC managing director disclosed.
Commenting on technical issues of the system, Mr. Ali said “when these systems are constructed, we have a defect and liability period, and in the case of the Bopolu system we have a defect and liability period of one year. So, whatever happens during this period, the contractors will observe and repair any damage.”
The LWSC managing director, however, debunked the notion that the current water-well is not deep enough to supply water into the reservoir, stating the LWSC has acknowledged that one water-well is not enough to provide water especially during the dry season. According to him, the LWSC has decided to construct another water well that will help feed the mini-water supply system in Bopolu City to avoid recurrence of the lack of water. Mr. Ali intoned he does not believe that the lack of depth in the current well was the major problem, but however, the LWSC has dispatched technicians to Bopolu to address the current situation.
It can be recalled on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, LWSC managing director acknowledged misleading the public about the first Mini-Water Supply System project constructed in Gbarpolu County. Director Ali acknowledged misinforming the public on a local radio station in Monrovia when he explained that his first description of the mini-water well’s depth was incorrect, indicating that it was 500 feet rather than 750 feet.
Mo Ali told reporters on Prime FM, “They are controversial, but my first thought on what we have agreed upon was that the water well should be 750ft deep; now my engineers confirmed to me that the well is actually 500ft deep and not 750ft deep as claimed early.”
When asked by journalists whether he regretted his actions, Ali claimed that he had no regrets; insisting that he had been the most criticized public figure in Liberia. The clarification of the LWSC boss came after citizens characterized the project as a mere scam intended to embezzle public funds.
Despite the pressure, Director Ali persisted and maintained his position until he appeared on a local radio station, where he was questioned by reporters and later succumbed. In his reaction to exiled Liberian activist, Martin K.N. Kollie’s criticism, Mo Ali wrote on his Facebook page saying, “Dear Martin K. N. Kollie, I’m not sure it would have cost you anything much to call and get some guidance from me on what a water system comprises, but I guess your pretense to know everything would not have allowed you to make such a call. Just a little education here: a water supply system is not just the small building you saw. It comprises the water source, the treatment system, the power system, and the extensive transmission and distribution systems.”
With the current water situation in Bopolu City, it remains to be seen whether the LWSC did construct the right Mini-Water Supply System for residents of the city at the cost US$250,000 as was disclosed during the dedication of the facility in February this year by President Joseph Boakai. The bookmakers are watching.
