Bongo (U/E), June 1, GNA – Mr Peter Ayamga Ayinbisa, the Bongo District Chief Executive, said over 80 boreholes would be provided for more than 30 communities in the District as part of measures to address the water challenge there.
He said the Assembly was working assiduously to address water and its related challenges confronting the people of Bongo in the Upper East Region and also address the effects of the high fluoride content in the area.
Speaking with the Ghana News Agency in an interview, Mr Ayinbisa said the Bongo District Assembly received GHC4.1 million to undertake projects as its share of the One Million Dollars per Constituency from the Northern Development Authority (NDA).
He said 32 boreholes had been constructed within the last two weeks as part of the project sum.
“In the last two weeks we have drilled 32 boreholes, I wrote to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and they gave me 16 boreholes and all have been drilled except two because they hit dry, so they came back to find suitable places to drill the remaining two, so in all 48 boreholes have been drilled in the last two weeks”.
“All the 48 boreholes are yet to be tested to ascertain the quality of the water especially the fluoride content before the platforms would be constructed,” the DCE said.
Mr Ayinbisa said through the Assembly’s effective collaboration with other institutions, additional 30 boreholes were in the offing and would soon be rolled out, declaring year 2020 as the Year of Water in the area.
He said the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), a Non-Governmental Organisation, had approved 10 boreholes for the District, which would soon be constructed.
“The Assembly itself is going to drill 15 more this year and I expect a colleague of mine from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to give me five more boreholes and that would make it 30 and it would move the total to 78 boreholes for this year alone”.
“Meanwhile the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has also given us five boreholes and all the five have been drilled and are ready for commissioning. I have commissioned two so far while the three are waiting for commissioning, so we have declared Bongo District, 2020, a year of water,” he stated.
The DCE assured the people that their health was paramount and, therefore, the high fluoride underground water content in some parts of the area would be checked before the boreholes were opened for use.
Whilst reiterating the Assembly’s commitment to addressing the water challenges in every community of the District, the DCE expressed optimism that when the Tono Dam Water Plant was completed, the Vea Dam, which currently serves Bolgatanga, would be redirected to the Bongo District and it would contribute immensely to solving the water related challenges.
Mr Ayinbisa explained that as part of the NDA projects two new Community based Health Planning Services (CHPS) Compounds with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities among other things were under construction at Zorkoawaa and Vea communities to help enhance quality health delivery.
On education, the DCE said: “We are renovating Adaboya Teachers’ quarters and it is about 60 per cent complete. We are further building a three-unit classroom block at Lungu Primary School.”
GNA