The fungal-contaminated dam serving as drinking water for Mempeasem residents

Correspondence from the Bono East Region

Residents of the Mempeasem Electoral Area in the Atebubu-Amantin Municipality of the Bono East Region have appealed to authorities for a clean source of water.

The residents numbering over ten thousand depend on the contaminated Tuse Dam as their major source of water for domestic use and other activities.

Looking greenish, unhygienic and leaving residents vulnerable to water-related diseases, residents say they are forced to rely on the dam as that is the only source of water available within the catchment area.

When GhanaWeb visited the dam, many residents were at the banks busily fetching from the dam for different purposes.

They told GhanaWeb's Bono region correspondent that even though they are aware the dam is contaminated and not wholesome for human consumption; there is little they can do in the absence of a clean source of water.

The situation, residents say, does not help their health looking at how contaminated the water looks with filth and faecal matter.

“We are aware that the water we are drinking is not good but our situation demands that we depend on this water for our daily activities and survival”

The Assembly Member for the Mempeasem Electoral area, Honourable Shagari Atindogo who revealed the Tuse Dam serves suburbs like Adom, Ahotor, Konkombaline, Zongo Number One, Zongo Number Two and Oil Mills deplored the water situation in the area.

He revealed that the situation has persisted for too long even though attempts have been made in that regard and called for a one-time solution this time.

“This is the water residents in this Electoral Area depend on. The water is bad and not fit for human consumption but there is no alternative and so we have been forced to leave residents to continue to rely on it over the years”.

Honourable Shagari revealed that the water situation can be solved with the drilling of boreholes in the area and appealed to Non-governmental Organisations and philanthropists to come to their aid.

For Ghana to achieve the objective of Sustainable Development Goal(SDG) Six which seeks to ensure access to water and sanitation for all by 2030, residents of the Mempeasem Electoral Area deserve a clean and reliable source of water for their daily activities because clean water they say is life.