Water coverage improves in the Northern Region
A monitoring report released by the Northern Regional office of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) has shown that access to rural water has improved in the Northern Region.
The monitoring, which was undertaken in 2014, assessed the number and functionality of water supply facilities based on acceptable benchmarks in rural areas and small towns in the region.
The report said “the functionality of hand pump facilities and piped schemes in the region were 57 per cent and 67 per cent respectively”.
This means that the rural and small town water coverage in the region now stands at 63.01 per cent.
The report was released in Tamale during a regional forum organised by CWSA on the state of rural water services in the region.
It was attended by district directors and planning officers from Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the region.
The monitoring of the functionality of water facilities in the region formed part of the SMATerWASH Project being implemented by CWSA in collaboration with the MMDAs and Agentschap.nl, the implementing arm of the Government of the Netherlands, to ensure sustainability of water facilities in the communities.
Mr Clement Bugase, Chief Executive Officer of CWSA, said the improvement in access to rural water in the region was as a result of provision of new water facilities, capacity building at all levels for facility managers as well as the increase on the number of water facilities over the years.
He said majority of the people lived in rural areas and urged district directors to continue to work to improve water facilities in their jurisdictions to assure the people of water.
Mr Ofori Maccarthy, Northern Regional Director of CWSA, said there is the need for regular maintenance to ensure that water facilities did not break down for long periods.
Madam Belinda Bukari, Chereponi District Planning Officer, lauded the initiative to monitor the functionality of water facilities in the region saying the data would help the assembly to undertake effective planning to achieve better results.
Source: GNA