Odumase residents get potable water
The difficulties encountered by the residents of Odumase, a suburb of Begoro in the Fanteakwa North District in the Eastern Region in accessing potable water are now over.
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This is because a $10,000 dollar mechanised water facility has been made available for the community. Hitherto, residents had to walk long distances to fetch water from polluted streams or rivers, a situation which often resulted in schoolchildren reporting for classes late.
Apart from that, many of the residents contracted waterborne diseases such as bilharzia, cholera, malaria, typhoid fever among others. The new water facility which was constructed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission will go a long way to address the difficulties faced by the residents in accessing potable water.
It was, therefore, a joyous occasion when the new water facility was officially inaugurated during which water flowed to the admiration of the chiefs, queenmothers, community leaders, elders and the entire residents of the community.
Opening the new water system at Odumase, the Resident Representative of ECOWAS in Ghana, Baba Gana Wakil, said the provision of the water facility had been dear to the hearts of the management of the commission.
Social amenities
He stated that ECOWAS had been concerned with the needs of the people and had, therefore, been providing social amenities such as mechanised boreholes and clinics in deprived communities in Ghana.
According to Mr Wakil, the Commission also had been supplying educational materials such as computers and its accessories to schools in the communities. He indicated that the Commission was determined to help residents in remote communities in all member-states to improve the living conditions of the people.
Water is life
"We are determined to provide social amenities especially potable water in deprived communities because water is life," he stated. He indicated that the water facility could function between 10 and 15 years if well maintained and asked the residents to take good care of it to prolong its lifespan.
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The Resident Representative of ECOWAS in Ghana assured the residents of many good things to come if they were able to take good care of the water facility.
Cattle & human beings
Ambassador Wakil who was worried after witnessing cattle and human beings competing for water in rivers at Savelugu in the northern part of the country pointed out that such a situation should not occur, adding that the ECOWAS Commission would have wished to address it on time but it could not do so because the needs of every community vary.
He, however, called for the needs of communities to be prioritised so that social amenities needed immediately would be made available.
Big relief
The Twafohene of Begoro, Baffour Sakyi Amankwah, who is also the acting Begorohene, said the ECOWAS Commission had brought a big relief to the people in the community by supplying them with potable water.
He, however, appealed to the commission to provide more of such facilities in the area.
The Assembly Member of the Odumase West Electoral Area, Kwame Tawiah Ofosu, was highly elated about the new water facility and thanked the ECOWAS Commission for its assistance.
A resident, Agnes Kwakye, said members of the community would no longer walk between two and three miles in search for potable water. Another resident, Sophia Darkwah, thanked ECOWAS for what it had done for them.
Writer's email:haruna.wunpini@graphic.com.gh