KROBO YOUTH ANGRY OVER ANOMALY IN WATER SUPPLY TO KROBO STATES

Members of Kloma Gbi being briefed by officials of Kpong Water Works at the old treatment plant.

April 24, 2012, Odumase-Krobo: A Krobo youth group, Kloma Gbi (Voice of the Krobo State), has expressed dissatisfaction over what it described as anomaly in the supply of treated water from the Kpong Water Works and the newly established Bukunor Water Works in the Lower and Upper Manya Krobo Districts respectively.

The group has since started agitating for regular water supply as is done to other towns and cities like Afienya, Dodowa, Tema, Koforidua and parts of Accra. The agitation was sparked by the perennial water scarcity in the Krobo States.

According to the group, most domestic taps particularly in the Manya Krobo District have not ran since December last year yet the affected homes are continuously issued with water bills to the annoyance of the residents while treated water from the two treatment facilities, all hosted by the Krobo State is transported to serves others in other parts of the country.

While the Kpong Water Works occasionally serves water (hardly meeting the demands of the people), through selected lines which are connected to the main distribution line serving Accra East, Tema, Afiefnya and Dodowa, the new Bukunor Treatment plant in the Upper Manya Krobo District which was established about four years ago does not supply any of the Krobo communities. Water from the community is instead treated and supplied to Koforidua, Kade, Tafo etc but not Assesewa, Otrokper, Oterkperlu or even the Bukunor community in which the treatment facility is sited.

Last week, the leadership of the group called on the management of the Kpong Treatment Plant to ascertain the cause of the anomaly which was followed a day later with a familiarization tour of the facility by the entire members of the group.

In his response to some of the questions posed by the group, Mr. Ebo Akwandoh, the Station Manager said, “Currently we could only pump 1.4million gallons of water a day to serve the vast Krobo population and this, we acknowledge is woefully inadequate but we can't do otherwise because of the capacity of the existing pump. We hoping to rectify this with the establishment of two 40 million and 10 million gallon capacity plant which will take 4 and 2 years respectively to complete; plans are far advanced in that regards”.

He said “We agree the water we pump into the reservoir is insufficient to serve the entire Krobo population, but our Distribution arm which falls under a different management stationed in the Yilo Krobo District (separate from Production which is what we do here) owes you an explanation as to why water had not ran at all in your domestic taps when we had always filled the reservoir at the foot of the Yogaga mountain to serve you”.

Mr. Philip Tetteh Padi, Commissioner of Kloma Gbi said, “We have been neglected for far too long, we no longer can look on while treated water is served from our backyard to distant towns to our neglect. While we wait for the completion of the new plants, we are calling on management of the facilities to serve as at a regular interval like they do the others lest we are forced -out of necessity- to demand our right”.