By Philip Tengzu, GNA
Wa (UW/R), Aug. 26, GNA – The Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) has commissioned five solar-powered water systems in three communities and two schools in the Upper West Region to improve access to potable water and enhance livelihoods and learning outcomes.
The beneficiary communities are Motigu in the Wa East District, Chansa and Biihee in the Wa Municipality, while the beneficiary schools are T.I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School and Boli Basic School, both in the Wa Municipality.
The projects, implemented under the GMA’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme in partnership with Humanity First Ghana, a non-governmental organisation, are intended to address water challenges in the beneficiary areas.
Speaking at Boli during the commissioning, Naval Captain (rtd) Dr Kamal-Deen Ali, Director-General of the GMA, said the interventions formed part of the President John Mahama-led government’s Reset Agenda.
He said the projects demonstrated the Authority’s commitment to supporting development in the region and ensuring that it received its fair share of the GMA’s CSR interventions.
Dr Ali said the GMA had identified access to water as a critical need in the region and a necessity for human survival, which informed the decision to provide the facilities.
He said providing water to schools was particularly important because pupils and students would otherwise have to leave school in search of water, disrupting their education.
“With this borehole here, they (the learners) can use the water and continue their education in a very seamless way,” he said.
Dr Ali indicated that similar facilities had been constructed in some communities in the Jirapa and Nandom Municipalities.
The water facilities have reservoirs to store and supply water through designated fetching points, while the systems can also be powered by electricity when necessary.
Residents of the beneficiary communities said the facilities had significantly reduced the difficulties they previously faced in accessing potable water.
Madam Niamatu Yahaya, a resident of Biihee, said the community previously depended on a single borehole, forcing women to spend productive hours queuing for water and affecting their economic activities.
She said other boreholes in the community required residents to pay for water, which was difficult for many households to afford.
“Now that this borehole is here, everybody is happy,” she said.
At Chansa, Madam Tenee Adams, a resident, said women previously walked long distances to fetch water from other parts of the community.
“With this borehole here, we don’t struggle to get water again. When you return from the farm at any time, you can just walk here and fetch,” she said.
She added that the facility had also reduced the risks children faced when crossing the main road to fetch water.
The residents expressed appreciation to the GMA for the intervention, saying it had brought relief to them, their children and households.
Alhaji Issah Nurah Danwanaa, the Wa Municipal Chief Executive, expressed the government’s commitment to providing essential social amenities to improve the livelihoods of the people.
Mr Maului Abu Zul-Haq, Upper West Regional Coordinator of Humanity First Ghana, urged the beneficiary communities and schools to take ownership of the facilities and protect them to ensure their sustainability.
GNA
Edited by Audrey Dekalu
Reporter: Philip Tengzu, GNA
[email protected]