Potable water inaugurated for Yong community gets … school receives furniture, uniforms 

Residents of Yong, a farming community in the Savelugu Municipality in the Northern Region, will now heave a sigh of relief following the inauguration of a mechanised water system to provide them with potable water.

The water system, which came with two reservoirs, is expected to provide water to about 1,000 residents of the community and its environs.

The community has had serious water problems for many years, and the residents, particularly women and children, had to trek about 10 kilometres in search of water in dugouts for domestic purposes.  

The facility, constructed by Engen Ghana in partnership with School for Life and the mc2h Foundation, would help boost socio-economic activities and improve the lives of the people in the area.

Aside from the water system, the organisations also presented 50 pieces of furniture and uniforms to the Yong M/A basic school to help improve educational outcomes in the community.

Inauguration 

Inaugurating the facility last Thursday, the Managing Director of Engen Ghana, Brent Nartey, said the gesture formed part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the company.

He said the organisation deemed it necessary and an important part of its work to provide safe drinking water for deprived communities.

“We at Engen believe in the principle that the best way of living is giving. We support the vision of leaving no child behind, and our corporate social responsibility policy aligns with the UN's sustainable development goals four, which is on quality education, and six, which is on clean water and sanitation.

Today, we offer these New Year gifts to the Yong community, trusting that they would go a long way in improving the quality of education and providing the needed access to water,” he said.

Collaboration 

For his part, the Board Chairman of School for Life, Fungaanaa Abdulai Alhassan, lauded the organisations for collaborating with them to put smiles on the faces of the people.

“The water challenge was impacting negatively on education and socio-economic activities because women and school children used to spend the whole day looking for water,” he said.

The Chief of the community, Kokoonaa Ibrahim Haruna, thanked the organisations for the gesture and pledged to take good care of the facility for the benefit of the people.

He, however, appealed for irrigation facilities to enable them to engage in all-year farming activities.

Joy 

Residents of the community could not hide their joy over the project as they jubilated and danced to traditional music provided by a local cultural troupe.

 A resident, Yakubu Asana, said she had been trekking several kilometres in search of water for the past decades.

She said the new water facility would provide them with potable water so they would no longer have to travel long distances in search of safe drinking water.

Writer’s email:mohammed.fugu@graphic.com.gh