Water Supply must commensurate growing population

Feature by Fatima Anafu Astanga

Bolgatanga, March 21, GNA - If water ever has an alternative, then it is death because it is so essential to human life such that without it, we would be prone to diseases that could lead to death and as the saying goes 93water is life".

In any Ghanaian society irrespective of the tribe, water plays very important roles in the performance of certain cultures. Typical among these is the naming of a new born baby. The first to touch the tongue of a baby during its naming or through baptism is water. This is a life wire different from any other liquid that goes through the mouth.

A community without safe drinking water is vulnerable to all kinds of water borne diseases. However, water supply to certain communities both urban and rural has raised lots of concern to the citizenry in recent times.

World water day continues to draw attention to the fact that fresh water especially in sub-Saharan Africa is important and until all communities and cities have access to portable drinking water we would be far from reaching the 2015 millennium goal on water. As a country, water distribution has not improved much. Some of the reasons for this are poor performance at project management levels and the absence of strong water and sanitation teams (DWSTs) in most districts.

In Ghana, water coverage to the population is less than 70 per cent and this among other things results in the scramble for water in many parts of the country.

The commitment levels of some districts and their Stakeholders in the provision of water shows that they do not consider issues about water with importance.

We can count just a few households where access to water can be said to be satisfactory. Most communities still travel long distances and form long queues to fetch just a basin of water for household chores.

The 93Better Ghana Agenda" promised by President John Atta Mills aims at improving the lots of Ghanaians, including the provision of water.

The way and manner Districts, Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies handle water projects leaves much to be desired. In the Upper East Region, statistics show that water coverage for rural communities and small towns is 59%.

Out of nine districts in the Region only one could achieve the 40% water projects allotted to the district.

The Garu-Tempane District should be congratulated for the high level of commitment in terms of water production and supply to the people in the area.

Many water projects were stalled in the Upper East Region two years ago because of non release of funds from the World Bank and the government of Ghana.

Some of these water projects stalled because some communities failed to meet some conditions namely counterpart funding. There is the need to consider various avenues to get portable water to the people no matter their monetary power to afford. Access to water should be seen as a basic right and government should work towards getting this right respected.

District assemblies should encourage their people to harvest rain wate= r. There is a hectic task for all of us as Ghanaians to attempt to preserve the environment by encouraging tree growing and discouraging bush burning, tree felling and other hazardous and degrading environmental practices.

These measures, when adhered to, would protect rivers. Those whose job it is to provide water should not be blamed for failing in their duty.

Funding organizations and government should be proactive in providing funding to fast tract water projects in the country. Management of water supply systems should ensure good management practices.