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e-mail : blessedenoch@yahoo.ca.uk
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Thursday 27 February 2014

THREAT OF CHOLERA LOOMS OVER ACCRA AS RESIDENTS TURN TO UNSAFE SOURCE OF WATER

Picture Taken in Tessanor -Accrs
Even as shortage of water supply is getting severe by the day in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), the threat of cholera outbreak has a potential of worsening the woes of residents.

Unplanned visits to many of the suburbs in the metropolis have revealed a spectacle that foretells that the annual threshold of cholera may be exceeded if concrete measures are not pursued. Some residents (as depicted in the pictures) are seen fetching water from open drains and other unhygienic sources. They claim they have no  alternative sources of water supply.


Picture taken in Tessanor- Accra
Management of the Ghana Water Company has announced a planned shutdown of the Kpong Water Works. This will commence on Thursday, the 27th of February 2014. The implication is that 40 million gallons of potable water are going to be lost to the daily water supply, a situation that will significantly worsen the already existing demand - supply gap of 57 million gallons per day.

The city has not yet recovered from the week long water crises that have plagued residents. Accra and its environs have been without water for almost one week following the breakdown of the Weija Treatment Plant which contributes 53 million gallons to the city’s demand daily. Residents were assured the crises would end on Tuesday, February 25, 2014 however a communications manager at the GWCL revealed to a local radio station that…. "It will take a bit of time, between 24 and 48 hours for the situation to stabilize...Consumers should appreciate what we are doing".

A man fetching water near a pile of refuse : Picture taken in Nima
Despite all the widely available cholera awareness information many Ghanaians die of cholera annually. According to WHO Cholera report in 2012, Ghana is among five countries in Africa with worst cholera cases and case fatality ratio. Between January and May 2012, a total of 3,216 cases and 28 deaths were reported from 20 districts. (WHO, 26 May 2012). The cholera cases and deaths increased steadily with the rainfall pattern, resulting in 6,000 cholera cases with 69 deaths by the end of August (IFRC, 4 Jan 2013)

As the rainfall season draws nearer the inhabitants of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area face a high risk of cholera as most turn to unsafe sources for their water needs.

ENOCH OFOSU

Thursday 20 February 2014

Climate Change Adaptation in Practice- Adoptable technology from Ethiopia

Climate change adaptation in the city of Addis Ababa- Ethiopia. An adoptable technique to establish urban forestry.

You can grow that tree on that compound with this efficient irrigation technique.

ENOCH OFOSU
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