Acute water shortage hits New Achimota

By Newman Dotse
Residents of New Achimota, otherwise known as Kingsby and Fish Pond, a suburb of Accra, have been hit by acute water shortage as many people, including students, are seen daily carrying yellow gallons in search of water but to no avail.
They have expressed their indignation as a result of the water shortage that has affected the community in the last few years.
Kingsby and its environs, one of Accra’s classy and much respected neighbourhoods, has been battling with acute water shortage over the years as the situation worsens under the current government.
They have accused the Ghana Water Company Limited for being responsible for the shortage, describing it as an artificial entity that lacks the foresight and the vision to solve water problems in the country. Water, according to the residents, flows in drips once week, a situation they describe as disheartening.
Madam Yaa Oforiwaa, a resident of the community who could not hide her frustration says: “I can’t imagine what is happening to this area any longer. We get water once in every week but it has been almost two weeks now we haven’t had even a single drop of water to do anything domestically and all my dishes and dirty laundry are still waiting to be taken care of.”
The above sentiment expressed by Madam Yaa Oforiwaa was a sentiment shared by other residents interviewed in that vicinity by this writer. The Citizen discovered that shortage of water has made the area a “money-making zone” for water tankers and a site where men, women and children are often seen with containers in search of water. It is the responsibility of GWCL to provide water to every community in spite of its operational challenges but how committed is Ghana Water Company to providing a lasting solution to water problem currently hitting parts of the Country?
When it comes to supply and distribution other countries, with scanty water resources, do better. For instance; Morocco and Israel. These are countries that sit in the middle of deserts.
Israel has a mixture of “conventional freshwater and brackish water …. About 1.1 billion cubic meters are from groundwater and springs, and 0.6 billion from surface water; and about 0.3 billion cubic meters of reclaimed water” In all, it has over 2 billion cubic meters” available to a population of some 6.5 million people.
Morocco has about 22 billion cubic meters. However, only up to 20 billion cubic meter per year can be economically captured for usage by a population of some 32.5 million people.
Ghana, comparatively only four times the population size of Israel, has over 26 times the water resource available to it. Morocco on the other hand, with 1.33 times the population size of Ghana, has less than 55% of the water resources available to Ghana.
It is quite pathetic to have learnt that water that is supposed to be made available to the people of Ghana is now becoming a luxury as flashy areas continue to get it as and when they need it, with areas with poor people experiencing shortages each passing day.
It is about time the authorities stop sleeping on the job and do something to curb the situation.