Seaman’s Schnapps Revamps 40 Hand Pump Boreholes in Four States

Clement Danhutor

Seaman’s Aromatic Schnapps, the leading drink from the stable of Grand Oak Limited, recently partnered Tulsi Chanrai Foundation to empower communities to take responsibility for their safe drinking water sources.

The company did this by establishing an effective village level operation and management system of hand-pumps in four focus Local Government Areas of four different states in Nigeria. The project commenced in October 2015 and was concluded in November 2015.
The communities that benefited from the CSR initiative were Anambra West LG of Anambra State; Tarka LG of Benue State; Obanliku LG of Cross River State, and Ekiti West LG of Ekiti State.

The hand pumps were handed over to the benefiting communities to manage with their own resources by building capacity at the community level with massive support from the State and the respective benefitting Local Governments. In addition to the water project, sanitation and hygiene practices were also encouraged in these communities.

In each of the LGAs, a Technical Officer with expertise in repair and maintenance of hand pump boreholes and community sensitisation skills was positioned for a period of one year. The officer would coordinate with the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Committees (WASHCOMs) in the communities to develop capacity of the communities by training inhabitants in preventive maintenance, environmental sanitation and promotion of hygienic practices within the communities.

At the launch of the borehole hand-pumps in Ado Ekiti, the media and market research manager, Grand Oak Ltd, Linda Temienor said. “Since the handover is complete, we intend to do periodic checks and follow-ups to ensure the water remains safe for drinking; by conducting half-yearly bacteriological and pathological analysis of the water focal water sources”.

Grand Oak Limited is a FMGC company responsible for distribution of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in Nigeria. It is also home to Seaman’s Schnapps, St Lauren non-alcoholic fruit drink, Swagga alcohol variants (Bitters, Gin and Schnapps), Black Mystique Whisky, Lord’s Dry Gin, Bacchus Tonic Wine, Apperito, Dark Sailor Rum, Calypso, Regal Dry Gin and Super Crown Schnapps.