Accra, Sept. 27, GNA - Barclays Bank Ghana had inaugurated a water project to serve the needs of over 5000 residents of four communities at Afram Plains in the Eastern Region. The GH¢ 74,000 project, which included five boreholes and two mechanised water systems, was sponsored by a GH¢ 40,000 donation from Barclays Bank, while Afram Plains Development Organisation and Water Aid Ghana provided the remaining GH¢ 34,000 with residents also providing communal labour.

Prior to the provision of the project, the communities, namely Forifori, Dim, Apapa and Gasele, have had to grapple with impure water after their only source of potable water collapsed 23 years ago, a situation which resulted in cases of guinea worm infections and other water-borne related diseases among the residents.

In her remarks to commission the project, Mrs. Margaret Mwanakatwe, Managing Director of the bank said the bank felt touched by the plight of the communities, the reason for which it came to their rescue. Mrs. Mwanakatwe apparently moved by the precarious infrastructural situation in the communities declared that water-borne related diseases, which were afflicting residents due to consumption of impure water, would now be a thing of the past.

In pursuance of the bank's goal in investing in communities where it operated to ensure development of living conditions and economic activities, the Managing Director announced that, this year, the bank adopted a three-prone strategy: "banking on brighter futures, looking after local communities and charity begins at home." This, she said, would direct its community investment programmes towards helping the youth and also to deepen its presence in catchment areas. She advised residents to consider the facility as their own and take good care of it to ensure that it served the purpose for which it was provided. The chiefs and people who could not hide their excitement expressed appreciation to the Barclays Bank for coming to their aid. Pledging their commitment to take good care of the facility, Nana Danso Ababio II, chief of Forifori urged Barclays Bank to consider assisting them in other areas of livelihood empowerment.