Residents of Yoggu in the Tolon district of the Northern region have been compelled to share water with animals due to the lack of access to potable water in the community.
A dam sited in the Yoggu community serves another village and animals in the area which could be contaminated and can cause an outbreak of water borne diseases.
When DGN Online visited the Yoggu community, it was observed that residents fetch the dam water whiles animals walk into the dam to drink from it at the same time.
Madam Amina Iddrisu, a resident, tells DGN Online that the water situation was worrying even though they were aware that the dam water could be contaminated and can affect them when they drink from it.
“ the community and its surrounding villages all depend on this dam we drink the dam water in its raw state not because we enjoy it but we do not have a choice , there’s no potable water in this area we have never seen pipe water and so we manage with what we have.”
Madam Amina said the lack of potable water affects economic activities in the community saying most of the women wish to do sheabutter or rice processing business but that is not be possible because it requires clean water to wash the Sheanuts and rice before its processed.
“ most of the women in Yoggu are doing nothing to support their families because we tried doing business like sheabutter processing and rice processing but we need clean water some of them tried using Potassium alum to purify the dam water before using it but it became expensive and some said it has health effects so they stopped so you see if we had potable water it will be beneficial to us.”
A student, Anatu Fuseini, told DGN Online that she walks to fetch the dam water from a long distance from their house adding that it affects her education.
According to her , she got tired after fetching the dam water and that by the time she gets to school it’s difficult to concentrate in class.
“ my house to the dam is very far and sometimes you need to go to the dam to fetch the water like 10 times then when you are done you prepare for school and with the school you would have to walk another distance so you will be tired in school and sometimes even fall asleep in class.”
She appealed to government , NGOs , philanthropist to come to the aid of the Yoggu community and provide them with potable water which will go a long way to enhance health condition of community members as well as improving education in the area.
In 2010, the United Nations general assembly declared that human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use. however, the reality is a contravention of the above.
The Sustainable Development Goal
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) VI, which Ghana is a signatory to, talks about ensuring available and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
The global effort to achieve sanitation and water for all by 2030 is extending beyond the household to include institutional settings, such as schools, healthcare facilities and workplaces.
This has been reinforced by global education for all strategies highlighting how water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools improves access to education and learning outcomes, particularly for girls, by providing a safe, inclusive and equitable learning environment for all.
FROM Eric Kombat, Yoggu