A mechanised water system has been constructed at Diani, a community in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region (NE/R), to help ensure residents’ access to potable water.

The facility, designed to serve a population of 1,200, has a storage capacity of 10 cubic meters (Rambo 10,000 polytank) and comes with four fetching points distributed across the community.

Besides the water facility, a girl-friendly institutional latrine equipped with basic facilities for menstrual health and hygiene management, has also been constructed for the Diani Primary School to ensure that girls remain in school.

They were constructed by Plan International Ghana, an international NGO, as part of its three-year Integrated Package for Sustainable Development (I-PADEV) project, which is being implemented in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the NE/R and the Jasikan Municipality of the Oti Region.

The project seeks to contribute to creating a resilient and protective environment both at home and at school for better health and learning outcomes for children especially girls through equitable access to and effective utilisation of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), early childhood care and development, education, health facilities and services.

Prior to the construction of the mechanised water system, residents relied on a polluted dam, which was about a kilometer away from them.

Mr Constant Tchona, Country Director, Plan International Ghana, speaking during the inauguration of the facilities at Diani on Friday, announced that “Plan International Ghana has completed 20 water facilities under the project. This includes eight mechanised systems and 12 hand pumps. Of these completed water facilities, four mechanised systems and six hand pumps are located here in West Mamprusi.”

The ceremony was also to commemorate this year’s World Water Day, which was on the theme: “Leveraging Water for Peace.”

World Water Day, commemorated on March 22, every year, serves as a platform to create awareness and inspire action to tackle the water and sanitation crisis globally.

Available data show that one in two (49 per cent) public schools in the country do not have access to improved water supply services and three out of every five (62%) children attend schools without water supply in the country whilst children, especially girls in rural and other under-served areas have to walk long distances in search of water before going to school.

Mr Tchona said “The lack of (or inadequate) quality water and sanitation facilities in schools disproportionately and negatively impacts on the educational outcomes (and ultimately economic empowerment and social status) of girls.”

He said, “Plan International Ghana believes that access to safe, adequate and affordable WASH services promotes girls and women empowerment since it enhances their dignity and position in the community.”

He mentioned other activities being undertaken under the organisation’s WASH project, which included ongoing construction of 20 girl-friendly institutional latrines in schools, roll-out community-led total sanitation in 20 project communities amongst others.

He called on members of the public to use water more carefully, reducing stress on the environment and water infrastructure saying, “In our working lives, we can also ensure that all our activities are done responsibly and protect water resources and ecosystems according to the law.”

Mr Yidana Zakaria, North East Regional Minister said the government had committed a lot of resources to the provision of potable water to communities in the country with Nalerigu, Gambaga and Walewale being the beneficiaries in the region.

Mr Zakaria expressed the need for the beneficiaries to protect, guard and preserve water sources, and desist from all practices that polluted water sources and encouraged them to plant more trees around water bodies to preserve them.

Mr Somo Lucky Arimiyaw, West Mamprusi Municipal Chief Executive, who was represented during the event, thanked Plan International Ghana for its numerous interventions in the area complimenting government’s efforts to bring development to the people.

Mr Yidana Hanan, a resident of Diani, who is in-charge of the water facility, said residents would be charged 40 pesewas per bowl to fetch the water, and the money would be used to buy electricity to power the facility.

He said school children in school uniform during school hours and fetching the water for the use of the school, were allowed to fetch the water for free.