Catholic Relief Service provides water for Nakpanduri
The Catholic Relief Service (CRS), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has provided a mechanised water system for the people of Nakpanduri in the North East Region.
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Constructed at a cost of US$ 40,000, the facility is expected to serve the Assemblies of God Health Centre in Nakpanduri to improve health care as well as the wellbeing of residents of the community.
The Nakpanduri town has been facing water crisis for the past years due to lack of water supply systems.
The situation compelled the residents to rely on unsafe water sources.
The only source of water was a stream which the residents, particularly students, shared with animals.
Inauguration of the mechanised water system has, therefore, brought relief to the people, as they would now have access to potable drinking water.
Handing over
At a durbar to hand over the facility at Nankpanduri last Wednesday, the Senior Vice President for Overseas Operations at CRS, Shannon Senefeld, indicated that the facility, which was funded by Water Access Now (NAW), formed part of activities marking the 65th anniversary of CRS.
She said it was in fulfilment of the organisation’s ambition to improve water, hygiene and sanitation situations and health care in communities, and added that "Water and sanitation impacts almost every aspect of human life, including nutrition, menstrual hygiene management, educational development, food production and many more”.
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She noted that an estimated 2.1 million people living in rural areas in Ghana did not have access to safe drinking water, while 1.6 others travelled long distances daily in search of water for domestic purposes.
Ms Senefeld described the situation as disturbing, and called for concerted efforts to improve water coverage to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which advocated universal and equitable access to safe drinking water for all by 2030.
"Since 2012, CRS has invested over $20 million in the implementation of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions in Ghana, reaching over 200,000 people with improved WASH services for the past years”, Ms Senefeld noted.
She, therefore, appealed to the authorities to put in place the necessary mechanisms to ensure proper operation and maintenance management of the water system.
Proper care
For his part, the Country Director of CRS, Daniel Mumuni, admonished the people to take proper care of the facility to enable it to serve the intended purpose.
He indicated that since the beginning of the year, the organisation had provided a number of boreholes to communities, and that it would continue to invest in the WASH sector to improve on the wellbeing of the public.
The District Chief Executive for Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri District, Joseph Louknaan, thanked CRS and its donors for the gesture and said the facility would provide potable drinking water for more than 5,000 people living in Nakpanduri town and its environs.