‘Give us alternative source of water’ – Teshie residents cry

Residents of Teshie and its surrounding communities have resorted to various means of storing water to avert a looming water crisis they fear might hit the area following the closure of the Accra Desalination Plant.

They have resorted to storing sea water and pipe-borne water in dug-out wells, small containers, buckets and barrels for use.

The few who could afford plastic water storage tanks and bigger containers were also selling treated water to the residents.

Barely a week ago, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) announced the temporary shutdown of the plant which serves communities, including Nungua, Sakumono, Lashibi, Communities 16, 17, and 18; Adogorno and Baatsonaa, all on the Spintex Road and surrounding communities.

Water rationing

Following that, a water rationing exercise was also announced to supply pipe-borne water to the affected communities on Wednesdays and on weekends (Friday to Sunday). 

But checks by The Mirror revealed that pipe-borne water flows through their taps only on Wednesdays and Saturdays within the early hours of the day and goes off intermittently, a situation they fear might impact their lives negatively if it is not resolved as soon as possible.

Visits to areas such as Teshie Addo and Gbugbla, Nungua, Sakumono and parts of Lashibi indicate that even though the situation is not severe, it could escalate in the coming days and weeks.

The residents have, therefore, called on the GWCL to make available an alternative source of water supply to reduce the impact on their lives.

Mr Isaac Kwesi Mensah, who resides at Teshie, said he had so far stored water in about 200 containers “selling to those who don’t have water in this area.”

One interesting revelation that The Mirror had from some of the residents was the fact that some people within the area were engaging in illegal connections and tapping either sea water or pipe-borne water directly to their homes.

‘Plant closure good news’

For that reason, Mr Mensah told The Mirror that he was happy the plant had been closed down since a lot of the residents were not paying their water bills, and called on Ghana Water to ensure that it collected all the debts owed it by the residents before opening the plants again.

“We cannot live in a country like that, where a lot of the people have made illegal connections and tapping pipe-borne water freely to their homes at the expense of the company.

“Even those who have made genuine connections also owe Ghana Water huge sums of money and have failed to pay, and are now engaging in the sale of treated water; how can this happen?’’ he asked.

Mr Samuel Markwei Marmah, also said that the situation would get worse in the coming days since they did not have any better alternative source of water supply.

Reactions

Several calls, short message service (SMS) and WhatsApp messages placed to the Head of Communications of GWCL, Mr Stanley Martey, for his reactions and the immediate measures to be put in place to resolve the issue went unanswered.