Ahead of the International Water Day celebration, on Saturday, a severe water shortage has hit the various markets in the metropolis, leaving a bad odour permeating the air

A trip to some markets revealed that, due to the shortage of water, most wele sellers cannot wash the hides, which are the delicacy of many Ghanaians properly, but rather keep it in a small amount of water.

Fofo Boye, a trader at the Teshie Satellite Market, disclosed that wele, Ga for cowhide, needs a lot of water during processing, to make it safe for consumption.

She said after the butcher had supplied the wele, in its raw state, the retailer then has to clean it, using water and a knife to scrap the burnt particles off it.

Fofo further said water was then needed again to store the meat, to keep it fresh.

She noted that if enough water is utilized in the washing and cleaning of wele, it can turn out to be very poisonous, due to the butchers using vehicle tyres to singe the cowhide. Fofo said due to this shortage of water, sales of wele has reduced drastically, because people prefer to find alternatives, rather than buy unwashed wele.

Aafio Mansa a trader, who sells cassava at the La Satellite Market, recounted that since the problem of water shortage begun, her wares have been going bad.

She said the inability to get water to soak the cassava to preserve it, has caused her to loose thousands of cedis, because she has to sell the dry cassava to chop bar operators, to use for kokonte powder, at a very low price.

A gallon of water, which cost between GH25p-30, weighs heavily on profits and it also was not easy to find, as you have to walk miles before acquiring the gallon of water.

She lamented that since the shortage begun, she has been making a loss, and therefore appealed to the government to help solve this water crisis, in time to save her business from collapsing, since is was her only source of livelihood.