Acute water shortage hits Malzeri

An acute water shortage has hit Malzeri, a community in the Yendi municipality in the Northern Region, negatively affecting life and business in the area.

The situation becomes more serious in the dry season when rain water is not available.

The closest borehole to the community is about  two miles away. Some boreholes which are relatively closer do not produce water as a result of the nature of the soil in the municipality.

Badly affected by the situation are pupils who need to trek long distances every morning in search of water before going to school.

For them, the problem leads to habitual lateness to school and, in most instances, absenteeism.

Seven-year-old Zainab Alhassan told the Daily Graphic that he wished to go to school on time and stay for the day’s activities but, after walking that distance in the morning before getting ready for school, he got too tired and could not concentrate.

Also affected by the situation are women engaged in shea butter and groundnut processing for their livelihood.

Sixty four of them have been brought under a cooperative initiative in a sustainable livelihood project being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

To enhance the living standards of women and youth in the community, a resource centre has been constructed by a work gang selected from the community to serve as a training and production centre for the processing of shea and groundnuts, as well as the rearing of small ruminants and guinea-fowl.

Under the project, a modern processing centre has been built in partnership with Housing the Masses, a local non-governmental organisation, using local technology.

The resource centre has a milling shed, storerooms, an incubation room, a ruminants pen and polytank for water storage.

The women have been trained in group formation, disaster management, groundnut processing, business management and bookkeeping, among others.

Before the project got underway, the women were operating individually under crude methods that took a lot of time and gave them little profit.

They are set to make a living for themselves through the opportunity created by the UNDP project, but they complained to the Daily Graphic that the lack of water was a great worry to them.

The leader of the Malzeri Shea Nut Processors Association, Madam Idrisou Rukaya, said the construction of the facility had encouraged more young women who had travelled to the south to do menial jobs to return home.

The Chief of Malzeri, Naa Mahmadu Fuseini, told the Daily Graphic that the government had to step in immediately.

“Water is life and so if we don’t have water, then I think they want us to die in this village. The UNDP has played a major role in constructing this useful resource centre for us and it is a challenge to the government to ensure that it could be used effectively with the provision of water,” he said.

According to the Assembly Member for the area, Alhassan Abdul Rahman, residents used to walk over seven miles to fetch water before the current facility was put up.

Source: Daily Graphic