For once community members of Tapa Abotoase seem to be in a stronger position to resist the numerous water borne diseases that have afflicted them for years.
A new era has dawned on the people of Tapa Abotoase, a fishing community within the Jasikan District of the Volta Region when the Ghana Federation of the Urban Poor (GHAFUP) stepped in to provide two mechanized boreholes with a distribution system to the community.
The distribution system which includes two water storage tanks, water pumps with four public standpipes at strategic locations in the community is boosting the distribution of potable water to over 4,000 residents in the community.
The construction of the borehole and its distribution system had not only contributed to the elimination of waterborne diseases, but had also lifted the burden of trekking to fetch water which usually falls on women and girls with negative impact on girls’ education (giving them less time to spend on their studies).
The availability of safe drinking water is also expected to encourage many qualified professionals such as teachers, health workers and other civil servants to accept postings into the area.
Tapa Abotoase is one of the numerous fishing communities along the Volta River with high level of water borne diseases such as bilharzias, cholera, diarrhea etc. Residents in the Tapa Abotoase community for example mainly rely on the polluted water from the Volta River for all household needs including bathing, washing and drinking. Availability of these water borne diseases had compelled many public service workers to decline postings into the community.
It is against this challenges that PDG working in alliance with GHAFUP and with funding support from Jersey Overseas Aid Commission stepped in to construct the facility under its Water and Sanitation programme. With technical training from PDG, the federation has established a 7-member Water and Sanitation Committee to operate maintain and manage the facility.
No comments:
Post a Comment