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Residents of Sekondi-Takoradi and some adjoining communities in the Western Region, have been battling with acute water shortage for the past two weeks.
The activities of both domestic and commercial users have been affected and they now have to walk long distances in search of water.
Food vendors and other commercial users are therefore forced to pay between GHc300 and GHc400 weekly for alternative water supply or hire tricycles and taxis to purchase water at the cost of GHC1.20 with ‘Kuffour gallons’ from boreholes and wells within the metropolis.
Students have also complained about walking long distances to join long queues for water before and after class hours which impedes their learning activities.
A food vendor who expressed frustration at bearing high water cost told Angel News Nana Fynn, she hardly gets portable water for cooking.
A female resident also complained that the situation is draining their meagre incomes because they have to travel to a nearby community known as ‘Colombia’ to purchase water twice a week at a cost of GHc50.
“Our taps do not flow frequently so we don’t get water. We only depend on wells but because of the pressure, it gets finished early. So if the government can help us by opening the taps for us twice a week, we will be happy”, she lamented.
Nana Yaw Barima-Barnie, Western Regional Communication Manager of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), revealed that the two intake points at Inchaban and Daboase that produces 6.5 million gallons daily is currently producing 2.7 million gallons on average.
“Following the onset of the dry season, with its adverse effects on water production and distribution, the company is facing challenges in the extraction of adequate quantities of raw water for treatment at Daboase intake areas,” Mr. Barnie told Nana Fynn.
He however assured the residents that the water crisis would be resolved.
