GWCL TO EXTEND WATER SUPPLY TO FRAFRAHA NSUO -ANO COMMUNITY

                story by: Hagar Sey              

Residents of the Frafraha Nsuo Ano Community in the La-Nkwantanang-Madina Municipality, have commended the Ghana Water Company, GWCL, for their efforts in connecting the Community into the main water system. According to them, for so many years the Community has not had access to potable water. Residents therefore have had to rely on a water tank, borehole and sachet water. The residents made the commendation when the Ghana Wash Journalists Network, GWJN, followed up on the Community after a documentary was made on their water situation last year.  Frafraha Nsuo Ano is a fishing community with a population of over five thousand. For so many years, the community has not had access to potable water. Residents have to walk for about ten to fifteen minutes to access a borehole in the community. The residents complained the water tanker is expensive. A situation which according to them, has compelled them to resort to using untreated water from a borehole for domestic use. According to the Sustainable Development Goal Six target for 2030, water should be accessible, safe and affordable for all. This indicator requires that the Country invests in adequate infrastructure; it is for this reason that the government made a huge investment to expand the Kpong Water Treatment Plant to enable it to supply an additional 40 million gallons per day to seven-hundred-thousand inhabitants in communities including Adentan, Madina, Kwabenya and Ashongman. A follow up visit to the community after the documentary by the GWJN shows that the GWCL has shown some commitment in extending water supply to the community. The GWCL has already laid pipe lines in certain parts of the community. In an interview with a resident, Ibrahim Satrana, he said there has been a consultation between the community and the Ghana Water Company on how to extend potable water to them. He said the community has been tasked to pay a minimal amount of money so that they can be connected to the main system. The residents appealed to the GWCL to speed up work.

 

FEVLOKOKPE APPEAL FOR POTABLE WATER

 Story by Hagar Sey

                                                  image by google

Residents of Fevlokokpe in the Shai Osudoku District have appealed to the government through the Assembly to provide the Community with potable water. They lamented that the only source of water in the Community is a small Dam which they share together with animals in the area. This, they said, mostly leave their water contaminated; and they have no other choice than to use it as it is for their domestic chores. Water, they say, is life; and lack of potable water has serious health implications for people and the nation as a whole. It is due to its importance that the Sustainable Development Goal Six, states that water should be accessible to all by 2023. Fevlokokpe, a farming community with a population of over 200 have, however, been denied access to this life essential need. Lack of potable water in the community is posing a serious health threat to the residents, especially women and children. According to the residents, women and children walk for a long distance to access the only available contaminated water in the area. According to them, most of the residents are afflicted with bilharzia, river blindness and skin diseases as a result of using contaminated water. They have therefore called on the government, to as a matter of urgency provide them with potable water or construct a borehole for the community.

 

                                                       

SANITATION MINISTER CALL FOR COLLABORATIVE EFFORT IN SOLVING WASH ISSUES

STORY BY HAGAR SEY

The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah, has called on stakeholders in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH, sector to work together in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal Six target by 2030. According to her, issues of WASH are a shared responsibility. Madam Dapaah said this at the opening of the 31st Mole Conference in Accra. It was under the theme, Prioritizing and Refocusing Sustainable WASH Service Delivery; Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. The conference brought together stakeholders in the WASH sector to dialogue on issues concerning WASH in the Country. Madam Dapaah noted that successful achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs is paramount. She said 17 goals  under the SDG are inter-related, interdependent and mutually reinforce each other. She said the government has not relented on its effort to promote the universal sustainable development agenda and raise awareness on the integrated nature of the Sustainable Development Goals. She said the government’s response to the spread of the pandemic has yielded considerable results; adding that stakeholders in the WASH sector have made significant contributions in the fight against the pandemic. She said the SDG goal six- is the central pillar to achieve many other goals like SDG 1- poverty reduction, SDG 2, food security and SDG 3, good health and well-being economic growth among other goals. She said prioritization of WASH activities in all respects is more important.  Madam Dapaah said the government will continue to partner with to CSOs, including the Development Partners, to support Government agenda in the sector. She said government is committed to improve WASH issues in the country.

 

 

WAG ACHIEVE ITS STRATEGIC PLAN TARGET

STORY BY HAGAR SEY

The Policy Analysis at the Water Aid Ghana, WAG, George Yorke, says the global strategic plan developed by WAG, has been successful in the country, especially in the three Northern Regions. According to him, 80 percent of the 2015 to 2021 target has been achieved. Mr. Yorke said according to a baseline study conducted prior to the activation of the strategic plan indicated that most Hospitals did not have Water, Hygiene and Sanitation, WASH, facilities especially in the Northern Region. The strategic plan was to strengthen and support the capability of governments and other service providers to deliver sustainable WASH services and bridge the inequality gap. The strategy equally sought to enable the poorest and most marginalized persons to realize their rights to water, sanitation and hygiene. Mr. York said the strategic plan focuses on goal six of the SDG targets; saying at the mid-year review it was realized that they have exceeded their target.  Mr. Yorke said 50 percent of communities in the northern part of Ghana have obtained Open Defecation Free status. He noted that most health facilities in Ghana have also become gender friendly while women have been empowered to demand their right. He said partners at the regional and district levels have been strengthened to help achieved the target.

 

DOMEA BRA COMMUNITY IMPROVE ON THEIR SANITATION SITUATION

 

Documentary by Hagar Sey( WATERSHED GHANA WP4)

Gonten resident cry for potable water

nanaesisey@gmail.com

03/04/19                                                               WE NEED HELP

Residents of Gᴐŋ-teŋ in the Kpone Katamanso Municipality, KKM, have appealed to the government to provide the Community with potable water. According to them, water from the only functioning borehole in the Community contains high iron and chlorine which makes it difficult for domestic uses. The situation has compelled the Community members to resort to the consumption of surface water although its safety cannot be guaranteed. Gᴐŋ-teŋ, which literary means ‘middle of a mountain’, is a farming Community with a population of over one thousand and one of the oldest in the Kpone Katamanso Municipality.  Though there are many challenges facing the Township, lack of potable water has become a major problem for residents, as they have to walk for more than 30 minutes to access surface water. In an interview with Obonu News, a resident, Bernice Oparebea, explained that the high level of iron in water drawn from the borehole makes it difficult to use. A visit to the Community showed that the Town is not only faced with water challenges but other developmental issues as well. The road network from Oyibi to the Town is in a deplorable state; making it difficult for residents to transport their farm produce to other communities for sale. The Community also lacks access to basic health care. Residents have to walk for about five miles to Aburi or Oyibi to board a car to Manpong to access healthcare. Another resident who gave his name as Papa Kwame, said due to the bad nature of roads in the Community, pregnant women in labour have to be carried by the youth in the community to Aburi, which is four miles away, to board a vehicle to hospital. The Assistant Head Master of the Gᴐŋ-teŋ KKMA Primary School, Christopher Adjei, said lack of classroom blocks has compelled the School’ management  to combine two different classes into one class; adding that security of the children is also worrying. Report by Hagar Sey