Residents of Adaklu, Agortime-Ziope and Anyako communities in the Volta Region, have been hit with severe water crisis.
Rivers and streams which serve as the main source of drinking water for residents of Agortime-Ziope District and its neighboring Adaklu, are drying up.
Residents share the same drinking water with cattle and other livestock. Some of the rivers are either almost dried up or overgrown with algae.
The river Tordze in kpetoe has its tributary in Togo. During the rains, the river overflows its banks into homes destroying lives and property, but in the dry season, residents struggle for water.
Schools are equally struggling as students and teachers spend productive hours looking for potable water. Children who cross the highway daily to fetch water from the river, risk being run over by cars and motorbikes.
The obvious health implications posed by the situation cannot be over looked.
Those who want pipe borne water travel several kilometers to Ho with gallons.
Residents told Citi News the Assembly, which previously sent water tankers to the communities to sell water to them, has withdrawn the service on financial grounds.
“The assembly has stopped because they are encountering so much loses. That was what they told us” Fred, a teacher in one of the community schools told citifmonline.com.
The two districts, Adaklu and Agortime-Ziope, are among five districts expected to benefit from the Sogakope-Lome water project. They are however yet to receive their share of the water expansion project.
The story is not different at Anyako, a fishing community in the Keta Municipality.
Mr. Wilson Kofi Bonuedie, the Assembly Member of the area, told Citi News water tankers come to the town regularly but most residents cannot afford to buy enough for their households.
“You will see people bringing in water everyday including evenings. But it is the amount of money that we spend on it which is the main problem we have now.”
Interestingly, the President in his recent state of the nation’s address, failed to capture the over ten year old water crisis in Anyako.
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By: Norbert Akpabli/citifmonline.com/Ghana