Residents of Chorkor, a suburb of Accra have cried out to government to ensure that water runs through their taps because they are suffering especially since the country was hit by the Coronavirus.
Persons living within Chorkor and its environs have to wake up at dawn to trek for miles, crossing a bridge on the ‘Chemuenaa’ lagoon before getting access to potable water.
However, for some people, as if walking the long distance to get water isn’t tiring enough, some greedy tap owners are going against government’s directive by demand money from them for the water they fetch.
Sharing their grievances with www.ghanaweb.com, a resident touted the president promise to free access to stable water as a lie.
He said, “Since they promised the free water, our taps have remained dry. We are really suffering because free water is a lie. Finding water to bath is as difficult as carrying gallons of water. We are suffering yet we are not prisoners.”
A security personnel told GhanaWeb that the recent developments have compelled him to bathe at work since water is very scarce in the area.
Residents say even before government’s promise of free water, water supply in the area hasn’t been consistent, yet they always receive bills from the Ghana Water Company Limited.
“Sometimes we get running water from 11pm to 2:30am with very low pressure but every month we receive bills and we pay. We are deeply disturbed because we’ve not had running water for almost three months. My brother has a car, so we often either go to fetch water at Soko or he gets some on his way back from Tema. We are pleading with the authorities to allow water run through our taps because water is life. We have children and nursing mothers and the community also benefits from our taps, but we don’t get water and we are suffering.”
The residents believe their lives are in danger since the running water they need to regularly wash their hands is not available. They believe queuing for water further endanger their lives as they might come into contact with persons who already infected by the pandemic.
“I woke up at dawn to get water. How can we wash our hands regularly if water is not running through our taps? Just think about how far I went to get this water, what if I encountered and infected person, I will later come and infect my family as well. They should allow water flow and also clean our gutters to beautify our environment,” one said.
Residents of Chorkor are also appealing to the Ghana Water Company Limited to stop persons who use pumping machines to fill their tanks the few times they get running water as they believe it is partly the cause of the irregular water supply to the area.
