The Residence of the Lawui community in the Akatsi South District of the Volta Region of Ghana are battling with cattle and other animals for potable drinking water. Information available to Coverghana.com.gh revealed that, the community members share the only source of drinking water with animals for the past three (3) decades.
The Lawui community, according sources is made up of over two-thousand (2,000) inhabitants who are noted for farming as the main source income, depend largely on a community dugout for drinking water for over thirty years. It was said that, for many years, the residents of the area continue to drink from unclean wells and other traditional sources of water with its associated water borne diseases.
Hon. Wisdom Akpabli, the Assembly Member of the Wute Electoral Area of Akatsi South Constituency and some residents over the years have appealed to stakeholders within the District for potable and standard boreholes and pipes for the communities but couldn’t get any befitting source of drinking water, to improve the sanitation situation in the communities.
According to the Assembly Member of the area, the community has two unsafe boreholes. He said, one of the boreholes serving over 2,000 people in the area can only produce an average of 30 buckets of water a day and the other one which could also not run throughout the day is not tasty and safe for drinking due to its nature. As a result, the community members had to rely on the thirty (30) years old unclean dugout for survival.
Reporting to Coverghana.com.gh, the Assembly Member indicated that, the dugout and the boreholes that serve many purposes to residents are not protected as a result, waste and other human excreta from upstream easily made its way into such sources of drinking water with its resultant health implications.
Hon. Wisdom Akpabli disclosed that, on one occasion, it took him for about three (3) hours to prevent cattle from entering the only source of drinking water for the community
The Assembly Members, chiefs and the people of the area are calling on stakeholders, civil groups, non-governmental organisations, corporate institutions and philanthropists within and outside the Akatsi South District to come to the aid of the communities by providing a standard and potable drinking water for residents in order to improve on water and sanitation issues in the area before things get out of hands.
Adding to that, the Assembly Member noted that, the communities within his area do not have adequate electrification project and face constant power outages. He also said, most of the communities in the area have poor road networks and are extremely deplorable and required graveling to facilitate the movements of people and their economic activities, hence appealed to government to assist them.
Watch below some videos of cattle sharing water with the community residents.
