Bladjai Chiefs: We Live To See Which Politician Will Come Here...

The residents of Bladjai, a food basket along the Oti River in the Kpandai District of the Northern Region, have been forced for two years now to depend on River Oti as their source of water given that the only borehole in the area is obsolete. The borehole, according to the residents, has not given them a drop of water for almost two years. Albeit the District Chief Executive (DCE) Mr. Jasper Jatoh Moayi and Member of Parliament (MP) Mr. Likpalimor Kwadjo Tawiah are both aware of their plight, nothing has been done about it. Speaking with The Finder newspaer at his palace last Thursday, Nana Akim I, Nawure Chief at Bladjai, warned that the situation might adversely affect the town�s health if immediate attention is not given to renovating and constructing more boreholes. Nana complained, �Oti is too greeny and the taste of the water is repulsive. However we don�t have any alternative so we are making do with it.� He explained that the River Oti is heavily contaminated with dangerous waste materials. �We share Oti with all kinds of animals,� Nana lamented, adding that most residents wash and carry out unhygienic activities like urinating and defecating in the river. �Because the Oti River is dangerously polluted, our children have caught different water borne diseases with bilharzia being the commonest. You are a witness to our pain and plight so please carry the message to the heads of our country and philanthropists to come to our aid as soon as possible,� Nana Akim pleaded. For his part, Nana Takai Chanden, the Kokomba chief, bemoaned, �When it is time for election, you will see our politicians storm Bladjai with their big vehicles coming to solicit for our votes with enticing promises. But they reject and deny us of our fundamental needs afterwards.� Nana Takai wondered why a borehole would be non-operational for years without any authority taking measures to solve the problem. �Is it because some of them buy purified water and so do not taste ours from Oti? Our leniency is being taken for our weakness. We live to see which politician comes to Bladjai to carry out their campaign,� Nana Takai lamented. He said if politicians were to contribute to national development, �then somebody must be up and doing and prove to Bladjai that we also deserve good drinking water.�Villages like Kamawule, Kabiti, Agbanyokope among others sited on the bank of River Oti depend on it for their daily source of drinking water. Attempts by The Finder to get Mr. Jasper Jatoh Moayi, the DCE of Kpandai, to speak on the interventions his outfit was making to solve the problems of Bladjai and some other areas under his jurisdiction were not successful.