Wasting clean water in Ghana-Blog Action Day2010

In February this year we at NewsAfricanGhana wrote about the water crisis that hit Accra West. We have decided to add to the many other blogs talking about water as today 15thOct.2010 marks Blog Action Day2010. For a number of reasons, the issue of water was chosen for this year.

For us here at NewsAfricanGhana, the most significant reason why we have joined the campaign on water this year is the fact that; the United Nations has predicted that; one tenth of global diseases can be eliminated by by improving water supply and sanitation.

Our opinion is that

In the effort to ensure that every global citizen gets access to water, available water resources or the means by which water is distributed must be protected and used judiciously.

At Dansoman, a suburb of Accra; which is supposed to be one of the foremost and well-planned communities in Ghana and probably in West Africa. We chanced upon a broken pipe with clean running water that has been left unattended to for hours. There was no sign of a repair work planned or scheduled. Clean water has been left to go waste in a country that has its fair share of issues related to portable water and accessibility. There has been a lot of talk about water privatisation in Ghana and how it has not even solved the issue of accessibility in many deprived communities.

Under a 5yr management contract, Dutch-owned company, Aqua Vitens Rand Limited , has the mandate to improve its performance and rehabilitate and extend infrastructure of the Ghana Water Company Limited. Yet there is a slow response in fixing broken and burst pipes that should have been properly protected beneath the earth instead of haphazardly showing on the surface and being exposed to car tyres.

What problems and experiences do you have to share about water problems in your community? Do you have unfettered access to water regularly? Please Share with us.

In search of water-AccraWest hit by crisis

It’s been four days since Thursday that residents living in Accra-West saw the last drops of water flow through their taps. People have had to travel long distances looking for portable water. Wielding water containers of all sorts from yellow jerry cans to washing basins and buckets women and children are seen in long queues at fortunate neighborhood spots with running water or wells.

The management for water distribution in Ghana, Aqua Vittens Rand, a merger of two companies of the Netherlands and South African origin, cannot assure residents of the affected areas when the situation will be finally resolved. Stanley Martey, PRO for the company says "there is an on going repairs work at the Accra-West sub station where the control panel and some equipments have broken down,unfortunately we cannot say when the works will be over".

Mr. Martey told Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, Joy fm’s Super morning show host, that the company has organized a number of water tankers tasked to distribute water to the affected areas. But many have sent in complains that they are yet to be reached. The situation has forced some households to purchase bags of water sachet to bath and cook. Sometime later in the weeks ahead, the price of a sachet of water, famously called “pure water”, is expected to increased from 5pesewa to 10pesewas.

Tap owners have taken the opportunity to cash in on the crisis before it is solved. They charge 5pesewas for a bucket of water and 10pesewas for big basins.



Over the weekend, some workers have also had to visit their family relations with large storage plastic tanks in to do their laundry. Seth Quartey is an audit trainee with a Chartered Accountancy firm and lives at Anyaa –one of the areas hit by the crisis, he says, “...the situation is unbearable and I plead that work been done on the equipments must be done quick time because I don’t know what I’m going to do if I don’t get water in my house by tomorrow morning”.