MP moves to fix broken-down borehole in Canteen

MP moves to fix broken-down borehole in Canteen

The member of parliament for Damongo constituency,hon. Adam Mutawakilu has moved to the aid of the people of Canteen in the West Gonja District of the Northern Region in a prompt response to a plea by a radio presenter,Ananpansah B Abraham to fix a broken-down mechanized borehole.

The pump of the mechanized borehole which is among the only two boreholes supplying the whole of Canteen and some residents of Damongo township water,got damaged for close to a month today and has since not been fixed.
The radio presenter known in radio circles as 'AB for Short',also a member of the community descended heavily on the managers of the facility during a popular weekly political talk show,'Within the Issues' hosted by himself on Radio Pad 95.1mhz Saturday evening.

He lamented that the situation was visiting untold hardship and pain on the people, especially his mothers and retarding economic activities, adding that he doesn't understand why monies are taken for every pan of water fetched from the facility but when it breaks down, same cannot be used to fix it.The situation according to him,was putting a lot of undue pressure on the only facility now left and causing long queues which irritates his eyes as a concerned community member.
His frustration was not different from one of his panel members,Amidu Abdallah who also revealed a similar situation in his area,Yagbonkura.

The outspoken presenter,recounted that the last time the same facility broke down,it had to take the intervention of a 'white man' through a community person 'uncle Mushe to fix it.He questioned the essence of taking the money and how long such a trend would continue,pleading with listeners and the community to rise to the occasion of tackling such issues devoid of politics,since water has no political colorisation.

The West Gonja District manager of Ghana Water Company(GWC),hon.Atta Zack was raised on the phone line to respond to the issues particularly,the broken down boreholes in Canteen and other parts of the District.
The manager conceded that he was aware of the situation in Canteen and some other two communities including Yagbonkura.
He disclosed on the program in response to a question posed by the host that genuine effort was being made by his office to address the situation.
On accountability,he said contrary to public perception that they were generating a lot of revenue from the sale of the water to the public,the monies they usually receive is nominal and inadequate to fix most of the damages they usually incur.

The MP whose ears are always on the ground with regards to happenings in his constituency got wind of the radio discussion and the plight of the people of Canteen which was topical.He immediately contacted the presenter on Sunday to ascertain the situation,and promised to support the community fix the damaged pump the next day,Monday.
The MP enquired from the District manager to confirm the extent of the damage and how he can support fix the challenge.

The legislator through the local committee managing the two mechanized boreholes in Canteen,opinion and community leaders,his rep and the radio presenter then handed a cash sum of Ghc1000.00 to the District branch of the GWCL to help fix the challenge.
In receiving the money, the District manager thanked the MP, admitting that the amount far exceeded their expectation.Together with the endorsement of his pump attendant,he promised to fix the damaged pump within the next 24 hours.

The chief of Canteen,opinion leaders and the chief Iman who were briefed about the donation,together with the delegation that presented the sum to the District GWCL expressed profound gratitude to the MP for the kind gesture.The community at large is full of praise for the MP.

It can be confirmed that the situation at Yagbonkura has equally been fixed the next day after the radio discussion. There is also currently,a bandwagon by the youth to clean the weedy area around the soon-to-be fixed borehole in Canteen on Friday in the forenoon.

The MP is expected to complete some five(5) mechanized boreholes project he started for communities such as Busunu,Tailorpe,Achubunyor and Sumpini by the end of the year up to the first quarter of 2019.He disclosed in a phone-interview with this writer that,he has secured additional 12 hand pump boreholes for some communities dotted around the constituency under his 'self-initiated mechanized boreholes project' as part of effort to provide clean and adequate water supply to the entire Damongo constituency.

Source:Village Writer (AB)