Residents of the Yendi Municipality in the Northern Region have expressed frustrations after an acute water shortage hit the area.
They have been living without clean water for about two months and this according to them, is affecting socio-economic activities.
It is also contributing to absenteeism and lateness to school in an area where authorities are making efforts to improve students’ performance.
Some restaurant operators have already temporarily shutdown.
What has aggravated the situation is the drying out of River Daka which serves as a major source of water for residence.
Also, lack of rains has compelled residents there to walk long distances in search of water.
Tanker service providers in the Yendi Municipality have taken advantage of the situation and excessively charging customers.
It is against this backdrop a group calling itself the Yendi Concerned Citizens is calling for government’s immediate attention.
At a news conference in Yendi, the group’s President, Mohammed Amin impressed upon government to consider the situation as a human security threat.
“Yendi is being faced with severe water crisis for about two months now, a phenomenon that we hardly experience for some time now: the effects of the current situation is enormous and affects almost all aspects of life.”
“Economically, the impact of the crisis has affected peoples’ life as people have to buy a dram of water between GHC8.00 to GHC10.00: women, children and students have to walk between 6-10 kilometers in search of water and this has greatly affected productivity and also resulted to lateness to school and absenteeism,” Mohammed Amin bemoaned.
He emphasized, “The Yendi Municipal Assembly must as a matter of urgency organize water tankers to supply water to the people of Yendi at a cheaper price.”
He also appealed to companies and philanthropists to help alleviate their plight.
“We also call on corporate bodies like the Eastern Corridor road construction company, NGOs, CBOs and philanthropists to come to the aid of the people of Yendi.”
Mohammed Amin charged government to fast track the construction of the Gnani water project.
He further solicited for the drilling of mechanized boreholes to lessen the perennial water crisis.
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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana