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• Mr Ben Ohene Ayeh (2nd left) showing newsmen one of the boreholes supplying water to the main water system at Adoagyiri. Pictures: EBOW HANSON

Nsawam water crisis: Interventions yielding results

Interventions to ease the biting water scarcity in Nsawam are yielding modest results.  Tanker services have doubled over the last week with an average of 15 tankers supplying water to distraught residents daily, municipal authorities told journalists on a fact-finding mission in Nsawam yesterday.

Mobilised by the Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipal Assembly in collaboration with the National Security Secretariat and the Ghana Water Company, the tankers are supplying water at no cost to key establishments like schools, hospitals and the Medium Security Prison, as well as some communities within the municipality.

Some private persons have also cashed in to sell water at what residents described as exorbitant prices. A ‘yellow gallon’ sells at GH¢1.

Struggle

Many residents in the area were still struggling to get access to clean water as manifested by the long queues of empty gallons and barrels found in most communities.

The appearance of a tanker resulted in intense struggle among the people, mostly women, to get water for domestic use.

Some of the women who spoke to the Daily Graphic called on the authorities to further increase the water tanker services, since the current supplies were not enough.

“We are suffering, we can’t continue to buy a gallon of water for one cedi because we have no money,” one young woman cried out.

water shortage

Improvement

“The situation is improving,” the Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Ben Ohene-Ayeh, said.

He stated that the National Security Secretariat had constructed two boreholes that would supply a 232,000 gallons of water a day on connection to the Ghana Water Company Treatment plant in Nsawam.

According to the MCE, other works being undertaken by the Ghana Water Company would, on completion, provide additional 300,000 gallons a day to the people.

“The two works combined will give us about 50 per cent of our water requirement for a day,” he added.

The 2010 population and housing census put the population of the Nsawam Municipality at 86,000.

The MCE further stated that the Indian Women’s Association in Ghana was to begin the construction of two boreholes in the Zongo community to serve the people.

Politics

Mr Ohene-Ayeh expressed concern over the way some people were  playing politics with the water situation in Nsawam.

He explained that some opposition politicians were bent on cashing in on the situation through the spread of false information that they were responsible for the water tanker services.

Mr Ohene-Ayeh commended the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing for the efforts it was making to end the crisis.

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