Yendi, March 8, GNA - A forty-member Area Pump Mechanics Association drawn from the Northern Region has been inaugurated at Yendi in the Yendi Municipal Assembly of the Northern Region. The five executive members are, Jeremiah Issah, Chairman, Issah Zakari, Secretary, Castro Baba Mohammed, Organising Secretary, Adam Abdulai, member and Peter Nanija, member.

In his inaugural address, the Yendi Municipal Co-ordinating Director, Alhaji Mohammed Asibi Azonko commended the Area Pump Mechanics Association for coming together to form the association to ensure that the pumps in their communities are always maintained and sustained for the provision of potable water for their people. Alhaji Azonko urged them to encourage their colleagues to form similar associations, adding that the programme could be extended to the entire country. He advised them to try to uphold the image of the association for it to grow and be sustained.

Alhaji Azonko stated that, there is the need for them to educate their communities to cultivate the maintenance culture so that all the water facilities and other projects provided them will last for their children to benefit. He called on other partners in the provision of water to support the Pump Mechanics Association to enable them to work effectively to maintain the pumps in their communities to eradicate water-borne disease, particularly the guinea worm.

Alhaji Azonko said some years back, Sang in the Yendi Municipal Assembly was a guinea worm endemic area but with the mechanized boreholes in place, they are sure of bringing the guinea worm cases to the barest minimum by the end of the year.

In his welcoming address, the Chief Executive Office of the Church of Christ Rural Water Development Project Mr. Nathaniel Nii Sasah Adams said for over 20 years, the Church of Christ Rural Water Development Project (COCRWDP) had been in the forefront of providing potable water for rural communities. Mr Adams said these efforts are coupled with the support from its partners who have contributed to the reduction of many water-borne diseases, especially guinea worm. He expressed their appreciation to the Over Lord of Dagbon and government officials for the support.

According to the Chief Executive Officer, apart from the drilling of new wells, Church of Christ Rural Water Development Project is into rehabilitation, mechanization and geophysical studies. He said the project had organized periodic capacity building workshops for pump mechanics and allied workers so as to equip them adequately to overcome new challenges. He pointed out that Church of Christ Rural Water Development Project with its partners have the hand pump spare parts programme which seeks to make readily available for rural communities. Mr Adams stated that this programme has come to reduce the burden most communities and Area Mechanics face in their quest to repair broken down boreholes.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Regent of Dagbon Kanpakuya Na Yakubu Abdulai Andani congratulated the association for their inauguration and urged them to continue with their unity and hardwork to sustain the water system in their rural communities. Kanpakuya Na Yakubu Andani said last year, there were serious water shortages in Yendi and it was the mechanized boreholes Church of Christ Rural Water Development project provided saved the people from travelling several miles to look for water.

The Yendi Municipal Water and Sanitation Team Leader, Mr Shani Mahama said there cannot be meaningful sustainability of water points without putting the area mechanics in a centre stage. Mr Shani stated that drillers of hand-dug wells who leave after having done either shady or good work leaves the rest of the work to the area mechanics to do both routine and maintenance work for no meaningful fee. He advised the donors and the contractors to always get the area Pump Mechanics Association members involved whenever they are drilling new boreholes to enable them to have knowledge about how the boreholes are drilled for future repairs.