Tipp Water goes a long way to help drought-hit Eritrea

Jim Morahan

Tipperary Water aims to raise E500,000 for the “Water for Africa” project, a joint initiative between the company and the Concern development agency.

“We think it’s going to be significant and we think it’s going to make a difference to Eritrea,” said Tipperary Water chief executive Pat Gleeson yesterday.

“It’s a great thing,” said the Eritrean Ambassador to Ireland, Negassi Sengal, who travelled from London for the Dublin announcement. “We’ve had four years of drought and the water is fading. Even drinking water is not available in our villages.”

Next week Mr Gleeson and his wife Marie will begin a week’s visit to see for themselves the difficult conditions that exist in Eritrea.

An estimated 2.3 million people, equal to two-thirds of the population, struggle to find sufficient water to survive.

Concern chief executive Tom Arnold said: “One of the key targets will be to allow women, who currently spend many hours carrying and fetching water, to have water close to them so they can do other things. It can also aim at helping children go to school.”