IT is all too easy to take water for granted.
FOR most with regular access to clean water, it is probably impossible to imagine life without it for cooking, cleaning, and, most importantly, drinking. And yet, only 57% of rural areas in Ghana have potable water supply.
TODAY would like to applaud the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for financing the Northern Region Small Towns Water and Sanitation project (NORST) to provide potable water and sanitation to rural areas in the Northern Region.
AS reported last week by the DAILY GRAPHIC, the CIDA will work in conjunction with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) to see the most effective dispensation of the $30 million provided by the CIDA.
THE DAILY GRAPHIC stated that this initiative will benefit more than 125,000 people in 30 small towns throughout 13 districts along the eastern corridor of the Northern Region.
AS access to clean water is a fundamental human right, TODAY is grateful that the CIDA is allocating such tremendous resources in order to ensure this right.
STILL, it is not enough. Although this is clearly a positive step, and a large one at that, it should not detract from the determination to provide all Ghanaians—no matter where in the country they live—with clean water.
THIS access to potable water will drastically reduce the rate of disease within rural communities. Guinea worm alone is endemic in rural communities, not only affecting quality of living, but also peoples’ ability to farm and make a living.
CLEAN WATER is an incredibly easy way to solve such a tremendous problem.
THIS, in turn, would put less pressure on the few health care facilities in those areas, allowing them to focus on preventative medicine and allocating resources to make the system more efficient.
THERE are also social aspects to be considered, not just the physical means to sanitize water. It is not simply a matter of putting a system in place and assuming that it will be compatible with life within the community.
THE communities themselves must also be brought into this project, consulted and taken into account before any permanent changes are put into effect.
THERE is little doubt that this initiative will go far to benefit the rural communities and, indeed, Ghana as a whole. The primary goal of any nation should be to take adequate care of its people, all of its people, and these measures show Ghana’s determination to do just that.
JUST as TODAY can stand proud of this project, then, we must also make sure that it is followed by others like it.
