Editor:
Re: Semiahmoo lauds water agreement, Aug. 25.
Kudos to Semiahmoo First Nation Chief Harley Chappell looking after his people so well.
Imagine being here at our rainy coast without proper drinking water for 22 years. How horrific.
And now he’s working on proper sewer infrastructure. Will the morale of his people go up or what? He’s proving himself to be the benevolent leader his people so desperately need and deserve.
It’ll be exciting to watch what else he achieves.
You are to be congratulated, Chief Chappell.
Marlene Penner, Surrey
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Re: Emotions run high as water deadline looms, Aug. 30.
There are things I am having difficulty understanding.
I gather the City of White Rock has been supplying water to the Semiahmoo First Nation reserve for some time, but that the supply may be cut off within the next few months. The article states the reserve has had a boil-water advisory for 12 years. I recall White Rock had such an advisory in the summer of 2010, but only for a relatively short time.
There is considerable concern about the water in White Rock currently.
Has White Rock been supplying only its bad water to the reserve all this time, or has the White Rock water been the same as the water on the reserve. If so, why is there only a boil-water advisory on the reserve? What is the state of the reserve’s infrastructure? Is it true that many homes on the reserve have no running water? Who is responsible for funding the reserve’s infrastructure? Is the Semiahmoo reserve one that releases its audited financial results or one that declines to do so?
I believe these are questions that must be answered before anyone can start assessing blame for this unreasonable situation.
Bob Holden, White Rock