For over two (2) months now residents of Abuesi and Aboadze, both fishing communities in the Shama District of the Western Region have been struggling to have access to drinking water for their daily activities.
The residents were compelled to travel long distances to purchase potable water at a high cost as some who managed to have access to water sold water at exorbitant prices.
The situation brought untold hardships on the residents as they complained bitterly of having financial difficulties as they have to seek the needs of their children in school.
Some blamed the situation on the Twyford company for allegedly blocking the flow of the water into various taps within the communities while others blamed it on the chiefs for selling a portion of land to the company where their working activities damaged the underneath pipelines that supplies water to the communities.
Against this backdrop, the Management of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and the Keda Ceramics Ghana Ltd, producers of Twyford ceramic tiles have made a commitment to resolve the issues leading to the water crisis in the Abuesi and Aboadze communities.
Mr David Yevugah, Human Resource Manager of Keda Ceramics Ghana Ltd refuted the assertion that they blocked the flow of water to the communities as alleged by the residents.
He explained that the pipelines were damaged when the company was clearing a portion of the land and so alerted the GWCL who came to stop the water from being wasted while they rectify the problem.
He hinted that the Company was using 90 percent of its water from the reservoirs with ten percent from the GWCL lines which was being used by some staff for domestic purposes.
“The company has been recycling its waste water for use in production and has since been relying on its water reservoirs for water supply. This makes the company non reliant on the GWCL pipe lines”, he stated.
Mr Yevugah mentioned that initially, the GWCL had demanded for the payment of ninety-six thousand (GHc 96,000) for the damage cost which the Twyford company pleaded for a waiver.
He said a waiver was agreed on and payment of sixty-five thousand, nine-hundred and forty-six of (GHc 65,946) was made on February 1, 2021 to the GWCL Regional Office for the repair of the pipelines.
He pleaded with the GWCL to divert the lines from the site if possible to avoid future occurrence of the damage in case the company wants to expand.
For his part, Nana Yaw Barnie, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of GWCL in an interview confirmed the payment made by the Twyford company after which an order was made for some pipes to be used to replace the damaged ones.
He explained that the delay in fixing the problem was as a result of the difficulty in getting the kind of pipes needed to replace the damaged ones.
He gave the assurance that the company will leave no stone unturned in getting the pipes to resolve the situation so that the people of Abuesi and its environs will have access to water.
