Residents of Asokwa, Maxima and Oforikrom are resorting to unhygienic sources of water following a water shortage blamed on repair works at the city’s water treatment sub-station.
In some areas like Oforikrom, residents had dirty water briefly flow through their taps after being without water for the past three days.
While in Asokwa, they had been without water for the past five days, other areas had also been without water for the past one month.
“It has become very difficult doing the house chores, washing and cleaning. Even the water to bath is a problem and we don’t know what the problem is because we cannot continue to endure this,” one frustrated resident said in an interview with the media.
Another resident said, “the situation is becoming dire for some of us as our children are skipping school because we cannot get water to bath them. Also, we cannot even go about our daily business because we cannot bath to step out to go about our businesses. We have to resort to sachet water which is really not helping issues.”
The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) in the Ashanti Regional capital on Wednesday, October 4, 2017 issued a press release signed by Samsom Ampa explaining their side of the story.
“Emergency maintenance works in the system could not be completed by GWCL engineers yesterday [Tuesday] scheduled due to some technical challenges. However, our engineers are working hard to complete the work after which supply will be restored,” part of the release said.
In Ghana, close to six million people (nearly 22 percent) rely on surface water to meet their daily water needs, leaving them vulnerable to water-related illness and disease.
Further, research shows that, 67 percent of Ghanaians lack access to improved sanitation or are entirely without toilet facilities.
The majority of households without access to safe water and sanitation lack the upfront funds needed to invest in their own solutions.
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