Water they say is life but access to water in many areas in the Upper West region is a major challenge.
Such is the plight of the people of Yibile, a farming community in the Jirapa municipality of the Upper West region.
According to the people, the unavailability of potable water has hampered their activities with students the most affected.
Speaking to Home Radio’s Albert Dapare, the PTA chairman for Yibile primary school, Mr. David Suma-e lamented that the unavailability of potable water is the main cause of truancy in the school.
The situation has affected the practice of hand washing by the pupils in a bid to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
According to him, the only borehole in the community was provided by an NGO in 2016 but broke down after months of installation.
He explained that the Member of Parliament for the Jirapa Constituency, Cletus Dapila came to their rescue to repair the borehole but it broke down again due to the daily pressure on it.
The Assembly member said the situation has since been reported to the Jirapa municipal assembly but yielded no positive results.
He therefore called on the Jirapa municipal assembly to either repair the broken down borehole or replace it with a new one.
Meanwhile Madam Lidia who spoke on behalf of the women explained the ordeal they go through in search of water.
“During the dry season we go to the valley for water whereas in the raining season we fetch water collected in holes on the rocks located in Yibile.”
On his part, the assembly member for the area, Hon Dabuo Felix said the borehole is left unattended to due to lack of funds for the assembly to get the borehole fixed.
Dabuo felix stated that he has written several letters but the assembly said it has no funds and that the community should use funds from the area council.
Considering the magnitude of the situation, he said they are exploring several funding options to address the concern.
BY: Albert Dapare
