The Upper West Regional Director of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency has advised traditional authorities and all other relevant bodies in the region to urgently halt the indiscriminate home burial of dead persons.
The Agency is also calling for the setting up of a common burial ground to ensure the production of potable water for communities.
The Regional Director, Walanyo Siabi noted that the current practice where loved ones are buried in homes with unmarked graves is negatively impacting on groundwater flow as it is polluted with leachate of burial related materials.
Mr. Siabi made this disclosure at a forum organized in Wa by his outfit to discuss progress of work on the implementation of the Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Project in the Upper West Region.
He said: “Emerging issues such as burial in home and the unmarking of burial grounds is projected to bring a lot of unforeseen water challenges up to the levels that cannot be estimated now.”
The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), since 2010 has been facilitating the implementation of the Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Project(SRWSP) in the 11 districts/municipal assemblies in the region.
The project is expected to deliver 550 boreholes fitted with hand pumps, 20 piped water systems, 55 institutional latrines as well as hygiene and health promotion.
It will also build the capacities of over 500 rural people to ensure the sustainability of the project which is expected to be completed next year.
But the Regional Director mentioned that “even though tremendous achievements have been made in the water sector, sanitation delivery remains a major challenge.”
He said the Upper West Region achieved only a little lower than 10% coverage of improved sanitation.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Alhaji Amidu Sulemana appealed to chiefs in the region to effectively collaborate with the CWSA to ensure the smooth implementation of the project.
He said there is need for chiefs to enforce strict adherence to the rules and regulations governing the use of land in the region.
By: Mahama Latif/citifmonline.com/Ghana