The residents of Yaw Adipa, a farming community near Nsawam in the Eastern Region, can now boast of potable water after they were provided with a borehole by Hyundai Motors and Investment (Ghana) Limited.
The facility, which was fitted with a pump and a reservoir for water storage, was constructed at a cost of GH¢25,000.
Residents told the Daily Graphic at the inauguration of the facility yesterday that prior to the construction of the borehole, the community relied on water from a stream and a well which was salty and dirty.
They said the situation got worst in the dry season when these water sources dried up, thereby leaving the community without any source of water.
Looking for water
At a ceremony to inaugurate the facility, the Assembly Member for the Yaw Adipa/Asi Yaw Electoral Area, Mr Joseph Yaw Konnor, said the acute water challenges exposed the 2000 people in the community to waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea and dysentery.
He explained the residents were to pay tokens when they drew water to be used for the maintenance of the facility.
He told the Daily Graphic that community members had in the past been knocked down by vehicles or bitten by snakes in the search for potable water.
“This is a huge relief to us. In the recent past when you even travel and there is no water at home, when you return, you have to fetch water from the stream or the salty borehole, both of which are in the bushes; It was difficult for our women,” he said.
More boreholes
The Country Director of Hyundai Motors and Investment (Ghana) Limited, Mr Mahesh Mahtani, said the borehole was meant to help address the lack of potable water in the area.
Coming on the back of a similar project the company handed over to the Fotobi community also in the Eastern Region; Mr Mahtani said the project was part of the company’s corporate social responsibility to provide water for water-deprived communities.
“This will not be the last one. Our programme will continue in other communities. We will continue to construct boreholes in communities without potable water. Potable water isn’t a privilege but a right for all,” he said.
An elder in the village, Mr Addo Mireku, expressed appreciation to the company for the support.