KOKODE CRIES FOR WATER (PAGE 18, NOV 16, 2010)

FOR the past five years, residents of Kokode, a suburb of Kumasi, have not had access to potable water, compelling them to depend on water tanker services for the supply of water at a huge cost.
Residents have, therefore, appealed to the Ghana Water Company to repair damaged pipelines in the community to enable them have access to potable water for improved sanitation and hygiene.
Making the appeal when a section of the residents visited the Kumasi Office of Graphic Communications Group Limited, their spokeswoman, Ms Victoria Adoma, said the community had been neglected for far too long in terms of water supply and sanitation.
The absence of sanitary sites in the community, with the failure of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to address the problem of sanitation, is also creating problems in the community as residents found it difficult to dispose of refuse generated in their homes.
For more than five years now “not a drop of water has passed through our taps,” she stated and explained that the situation has compelled them to buy water from operators of water tankers.
She further explained that residents who could not afford to buy water from tanker operators relied on streams.
Ms Adoma expressed concern about the inability of the GWCL to address the problem and urged it to respond quickly to the appeal of members of the community.
On sanitation, Ms Adoma stated that the absence of sanitary sites and public places of convenience in the community were some of the major challenges confronting residents as they were unable to dispose off their waste properly.
She explained that few years ago, litter bins were supplied to individual homes in the community for a fee, a situation which she said reduced the incidence of littering “but surprisingly, the bins have disappeared.“
She said it was important for authorities of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly to address the problem of waste disposal at Kokode to avoid the outbreak of any disease in the community.
She explained that because Kokode is a traditional community, many homes did not have access to toilet facilities, a situation which impacted negatively on sanitation and hygiene as the youth, especially, defecated in nearby bushes.
The KMA, she stated, had provided places of convenience for neighbouring suburbs like Asuoyeboa, Kwadaso and Edwinase, among others, and must, therefore, not deny the people of Kokode of the same facility.