Residents of Dambai cry for potable water

Many capital towns of Ghana have access to good pipe born drinking water; however, that is not the case for Dambai, the newly selected regional capital of the Oti Region in the Volta Region.

Dambai has a population of about 100,000 people and has one of the biggest market centres within its enclave.

The residents of Dambai, mainly farmers, traders, government workers and private business owners have been subjected to various hardships over the years due to the lack of potable drinking water in the community.

Residents have to buy water daily from private tanks and borehole owners in order to go about their daily duties and household chores.

Those who cannot afford these private water supplies have to walk several hours to the Oti River to fetch water for their homes before going to their work places or schools.

Mr. Koki Timothy, a teacher at the Dambai College of Education, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency,(GNA) said students spend more time to fetch water from the river side, thereby affecting their work outputs in school.

He said students had to queue for water and that made most of them late for school and while others also slept during lessons due to fatigue from fetching water.

He said that privately owned bore holes are expensive with the small bucket being sold for 20 pesewas whiles the big pan went for 50 pesewas.

That, he said, made many families who could not afford to resort to the use of the river.

Prophet Daniel Adufori, Pastor of Vibrant Faith Chapel, told the GNA that the unhygienic state of the River had been the cause of many health conditions in the Dambai Township.

He said most common water borne diseases include typhoid fever and other skin infections.

He said because the township lacked potable drinking water, most workers, especially teachers and nurses refused posting to the area.

A visit to the riverside by this reporter revealed that the people walk between 15 and 20 minutes to fetch water and some group of women and children confirmed that each person fetched five to 10 buckets or pans every morning.

This means that people used an average of one to two hours to fetch water daily in Dambai.

This sequence of activity will lead to low performance in schools as well as low productivity in the town.

Dambai is the capital of the newly created Oti Region. It is located on the eastern side of the Oti River, a tributary of the Volta Lake. It was carved out of the existing Volta Region.

It was given the Legislative Instruments as capital by President Nana Akuffo Addo on February 15, 2019 after which it was chosen to be the capital.

It is located in the heart of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) area.

Source: GNA