Rural water provision:…GDCA rescuescommunities

Francis Npong, Tamale

As water crisis hit rural communities in Northern region, a Non-for-Profit Making Organization, Ghana Developing Community Association (GDCA) has introduced low cost technology to provide water to underprivileged rural dwellers.

The technology which makes use of local materials is part of coping mechanisms to climate change. The organization is currently implementing the programme in Yendi, Karaga and Gushegu where water situation was critical.

Under the technology, simple tools are used to construct or dig river bed wells, and boreholes which are fixed with hand pumps for easy drawing of water. The initiative is part of efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals on water.

The organization had also introduced “sand damming” to provide water to these communities that were in dire need of the drinking water and for household chores.

The programme Manager of the Community Livelihood Improvement (CLIP) Mr. Illiasu Adam who disclosed this during GDCA- media review meeting said that the practice is done at underprivileged communities in rural Ghana where evidence of climate change and water crisis is obvious.

He explained that the initiative was taken after the organization had deliberated on the government water policy which was realized would not benefit communities with the population less 300.

The programme manager said that there was the need to support these poor communities because the government was concentrating on urban and peri-urban communities in the provision of water to the detriment of rural communities who were without portable drinking water.

He said that the community members are trained to assembled and dismantled pumps fixed on river bed wells to enable them fix them at the time of needs. Pumps are often fixed to river bed wells during dry season and remove when the rains set in whereas clay sacks are used to create blockage of river tributaries to prevent water from run out of the river.

The system, the programme manager which is now been used to irrigate vegetables pointed out that was improving the socio-economic conditions of the people.

The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Developing communities Association (GDCA) Mr. Osman Rahman said the organization was committed to reducing poverty and improving socio-economic conditions of rural dwellers.

He said it was aganst this background that various initiatives are deplored to meet the target of the organization.