Government ignores dry town

BY SARAH THIRDEETUTH

DARWIN — The NT News reported on September 7 that Oenpelli, an Aboriginal community of 1200 people in western Arnhem Land, had been without water for three days. It is the end of the dry season, with no rain in sight, and the town's four bores have run dry.

Temperatures at this time of year are in the mid-30s, and the build-up of humidity and dust makes life difficult enough. Without water, people are unable to wash themselves or clothes, flush the toilets, keep dust down, keep gardens alive or drink from their kitchen taps.

A Kunbarlanjanja Community Council employee was quoted in the NT News (also known as the "M-T News") as saying the problem always occurs at this time of year but Northern Territory essential services minister Steve Dunham thinks that they get enough water, and his department has allocated funds to other more urgent projects.

It is distressing that the NT government does not consider water a priority in a town with many children and elderly, in a region with one of the worst rates of kidney disease in the world.

A representative of the Power and Water Authority told me it was a "complicated" issue, but that in his opinion it was the people's fault because they had used bore water meant for drinking to water the oval. He said that negotiations were under way to supply water.

The lack of adequate water supplies is not unique to Oenpelli. To help highlight this, please send a small bottle of water to: Chief Minister Dennis Burke, Parliament House, Darwin 0820. Please ask Burke to forward your gift to the people of Oenpelli.

From GLW issue 422