By: Nicholas Osei-Wusu
Four rural communities in the Ashanti region have received reliable potable water supply systems to address their long standing water supply challenges.
The four water projects cost nearly seven million Ghana Cedis as a gift from AngloGold Ashanti to coincide with this year’s World Water Day.
Ntonsua is one of the beneficiary communities of the community water systems. Ntonsua, one of the towns within the Kunka traditional area within the Obuasi Municipality, is predominantly a hard to-reach farming community.
Inhabitants of the town, though have two boreholes, have not enjoyed the expected reliable sources of water supply for their domestic chores and other activities.
Besides, the people particularly the females have been complaining about the enormity of the physical requirement in drawing water from the communal borehole.
The provision of the new water supply system has therefore come in handy.
The Odikro of Ntonsua, Nana Alex Owusu, was even more excited because the impact of the unreliable water supply on teaching and learning at the local basic schools has now been addressed.
Inauguration of the one at Ntonsua was used to symbolically commission all the others. The three other beneficiary towns are Bidieso, Creeki and Kwabrafoso, all in the Obuasi Municipality in the Ashanti region.
Each of the towns has a mechanized communal water system modeled after the Small Towns Water System with a total cost of nearly seven million Ghana Cedis funded entirely by AngloGold Ashanti as part of its building socio-economically self-sustaining communities to augment government’s development efforts.
The Senior Manager, Sustainability, at AngloGold Ashanti, Emmanuel Baidoo, noted that the projects arr in line with the mine’s commitment to supporting the government to improve the lot of the citizens.
The Assembly Member for the area, Daniel Osei, who requested for the Ntonsua Water project, to GBC that, said leadership of the town has initiated pragmatic arrangement to maintain the water system to realize the intended long term objectives.
The water project also forms part of the 10-year revival of the Obuasi economy.
