Mismanagement of water systems thwarting CWSA efforts

The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) has identified mismanagement of water systems as one of the major factors impacting negatively on its operations in the Upper West Region.

The CWSA says water systems had been mismanaged to the extent that most of them are operating just marginally, and beneficiary communities are unable to take advantage of the huge investment in water supply to improve sanitation.

The municipal and district assemblies are constantly under political pressure to apply their scanty resources in fixing broken down boreholes and mechanised water systems, but shirked their responsibilities of monitoring and demanding accountability of the Water and Sanitation Management Teams to the communities.

In some other regions, water systems were properly managed and the resources were applied for other community needs related to water, sanitation and hygiene but the story in the region was different, Mr Worlanyo Siabi, the Regional Director of CWSA, has said.

The CWSA Director raised those concerns during the handing over ceremony of the Kpongu Piped Water System near Wa on Tuesday.

He said the disturbing phenomenon in the region was the rate in the breakdown of water facilities and refusal of communities to pay for the water services they were provided with.

The CWSA Director said the CWSA had sent a formal request to all the municipal and district assemblies to carry out technical and financial audits on all piped systems in the region to enable it to provide assistance to revamp them.

He appealed to the districts to form teams to carry out the exercise before the end of October 2015.

The Kpongu Water System project started in October 2014 with three others under the Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Project.

These projects are financed through a World Bank loan and GHC1,203,225.90 had been invested in the Kpongu Water System.

A total of GHC18.9 million was spent on physical interventions on the Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Project in six municipal and district assemblies, covering 300 boreholes fitted with hand pumps and eight piped water systems.

Additional GHC20 million would be spent on interventions in the remaining five districts once funding is secured in 2016.

Manwe, Goripie and Wechiau water systems had been completed and handed over while Sombo, Nator, Wellembelle and Piina are near completion.