Monrovia – The National Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Commission (NWASHC) has termed as “deceptive” claims being made by a Non-Governmental Organization, The Last Well that it built hundreds of hand pumps across the country.
NWASHC says the NGO is claiming that it has provided safe drinking water to over two million Liberians across the country.
The NWASHC is an agency of the Government of Liberia (GOL) clothed with the mandate to promote, coordinate, and regulate the development and management of water, sanitation, and hygiene services.
Meanwhile, Last Well is a non-profit organization based in the United States with a primary purpose of eliminating water scarcity across Liberia and offering the gospel to every community by 2020.
Speaking to reporters in Monrovia on Thursday, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the WASH Commission, Mr. Bobby Whitfield, said the commission has unearthed multiple “discrepancies” concerning the purported claims made by the NGO.
He pointed out that in February 2019 the commission launched an investigation into claims made by The Last Well based upon multiple complaints from international and local stakeholders over its alleged false declaration posted on its website.
He disclosed that the commission also investigated Letters of Attestation or Certificates of Achievements signed and issued to The Last Well by both the past and current Assistant Ministers for Community Services at the Ministry of Public Works, Mr. George Yarngo and Mr. Bolton Dennis respectively on behalf of the Liberian government.
Mr. Whitfield noted that the investigations, which were conducted in Bong and Grand Gedeh counties, were intended to verify the number of wells dug, drilled and rehabilitated by The Last Well in two of the five counties as “sample size to make a determination generally on happenings in the five operational counties of The Last Well”.
He maintained that the probe was necessary to determine the operational internal control system of The Last Well with a specific focus on staff monitoring and evaluation skills, and to ensure that all the wells dug, drilled and rehabilitated by the United States-supported NGO meet the approved technical standards set by government on water and sanitation.
According to him, the probe was also intended to identify, document and proffer policy recommendations intended to mitigate gaps identified as a means of generally improving access to adequate water, sanitation, hygiene services and facilities.
What Were The Findings
During the separate investigations, Mr. Whitfield pointed out that out of the 42 wells claimed to have been dug by The Last Well in Grand Gedeh and 56 others rehabilitated, not a single well was seen by the team.
He pointed out that the team also observed that over 50% of The Last Well local contractors or implementing agencies are not in legal standing with the government, and they have not obtained sectorial clearances from the relevant government agencies.
“The investigation established that out of 42 wells claimed to have been dug by The Last Well in Grand Gedeh and 56 rehabilitated; the entire Zwedru communities the National Wash Sanitation Hygiene Commission’s team verified including Disco Hills, Airfield, and others, not a single well founded by The Last Well was seen by the team as of the date of the team’s verification in Zwedru,” he stated.
He maintained that it was also observed that the Ministry of Public Works WASH County Coordinators were not involved in the implementation of The Last Well projects.
“The Coordinators could not provide reasonable assurance that those wells dug, drilled and rehabilitated were done in line with national standards, and are adequate to serve the entire population of the counties as claimed by The Last Well,” he stated.
He added that the local NGO receiving support from its partners in the United States also allegedly violated the National Integrated Water Resource Management Policy of 2009 which is consistent with the Sphere Handbook 2018 edition on water supply, sanitation, and hygiene promotion which point out the maximum number of persons per water source.
Mr. Whitfield added: “Both standards maximum persons per tap base on a flow of 7.5 liters/minute requires 250 people, based on the flow of 12.5 liters/minute require 400 people per single-use open well”.
“The commission also observed that due to the large population size to a water point and other factors, most of the wells dug by The Last Well were not functioning properly thus, leaving the communities with no alternative but to revert to their unsafe sources, like the case of Bargblor Town in Tchien district, Grand Gedeh. In this town, out of the 11 wells dug by different organizations including The Last Well, none is functional as of the date of our verification on March 1, 2019,” he noted.
Wants LW Certificate Revoked
Meanwhile, the National Water Sanitation Hygiene Commission of Liberia is seeking the revocation of Certificates of Achievement issued to The Last Well.
Mr. Whitfield pointed out that the claim made by the group of providing universal access to water in its entirety to Grand Kru, Bomi, Bong, Gbarpolu and Grand Gedeh counties is ‘counterproductive’.
According to him, the claim also undermines the attainment of the WASH component of the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development.
“This could also negatively impact National and Global resource mobilization efforts toward ensuring that Liberia’s population have access to safe drinking water,” he stated.
Said the WASH boss: “Considering that there is no trace of genuine monitoring and evaluation system to authenticate that the said counties have achieved universal access to water, it is informative to note that, the past and current Assistant Ministers for Community Services both validated the purported work of The Last Well in those counties. We are urging them to provide documentary evidence to support their respective claims representing the government. In the absence of such, the NWASHC will be left with no other alternative but to nullify all issued certificates of completion validating The Last Well claim of the provision of universal access to clean water entirely throughout said counties”.
What Has Last Well Said?
Speaking in an exclusive interview with FrontPage Africa, the Vice President of International Affairs and Strategic Partnership of The Last Well, Mr. Abdul Koroma, said the accusation raised by the commission is untrue.
He pointed out companies that have been certified by the Ministry of Public Works are accorded projects by the NGO.
He added that documents presented by The Last Well team in Liberia have been overwhelmingly embraced by its partners.
Mr. Koroma, however, expressed hope that the National WASH Commission would understand that the NGO is in the country to buttress government’s efforts in improving the lives of its citizens, and not for profit-making.
“There are no disparities in what you see on our website. Breaking down of hand pumps is not new to Liberia or the world; you can do hand pump today and it breaks down tomorrow. We work with constructors who are certified by government. Over 30 companies, mostly Liberian contractors are given our contracts I strongly reject the assertions of the commission. There are no facts to prove what the commission has,” Koroma said.