The Koforidua Area of The Church of Pentecost has commissioned a mechanized borehole with two iron removal filters and an overhead poly tank storage facility at a total cost of Ghc38,844 for Akpo, a farming community in the Yilo Krobo Municipality in the Eastern region.
The intervention by the Church has fixed decades-old water scarcity in the community and surrounding villages which crippled development and affected life of the inhabitants.
Akpo and its surrounding communities such as Akpo Susie, Okper Terpursi, Akpo Sla, and Akpo Akuapem located in a hilly area near Huhunya never had access to safe water since the existence of the communities.
The estimated total population of over 2000 residents predominantly peasant farmers, therefore, depended on heavily polluted streams shared with animals for drinking and other domestic uses which resulted in waterborne diseases among the populace.
Few people including nurses and teachers posted to the community who can afford sachet water buy from Nkurakan Township which is about 15km away, to drink.
The water stress situation in the Akpo community worsens every dry season as the only stream dries up.
These results in chaos as residents jostled to Search for water.
School children and women in the particular queue and wait hours for the dried to replenish to enable them to fetch a few buckets.
Attempts made in the past by organizations to drill boreholes in the community hit a snag due to difficult hydrological challenges.
The chronic water scarcity situation fueled alarming rural-urban migration among the youth who hitherto should have stayed in the community to farm for a living.
Speaking at a brief ceremony to Commission the mechanized borehole facility, the Koforidua Area Head of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Samuel Osei Asante explained that, the water stress situation at Akpo and its surrounding Communities came to the attention of the Area Executives of the Church through a report by then-District Pastor for Huhunya Pastor Kofi Fofie who noted that, members of the Church always attend Church service late sometimes between 11:00 am and noon due to water crises during the dry season.
Apostle S.O Asante said, based on the report, the Church decided to construct a mechanized borehole for the community in line with vision 2023 of the Church which encourages Community impact projects.
He however said the initial budget estimate for the project increased due to unexpected serious hydrological challenges encountered which even caused damage to the borehole drilling equipment.
“Our decision to come to Akpo here is the fact that in 2019 during our mid-year report meeting, the pastor who was here “Kofi Foffie ” at Huhunya in his report we realized that the people in Akpo were going to church being late always, so we made inquiries and we got to know from the pastor that they have serious water problem over here so before they can get water, prepared themselves and go to church takes a very long time.
So the ministers and their wives during that time took it upon ourselves also working under vision 2023 to get a mechanized borehole for the people of Akpo and its environs so that it enhances church attendance time with the members who go to church at Akpo here.
So we discussed with the Area Executive committee and the area presbytery meetings and it was accepted and then we started working and planning for it and by the grace of God this is what the Lord has done for us and His church”. Apostle S.O Asante said.
Apostle S.O Asante who is also a Member of the Executive Council of The Church of Pentecost continued that, the Church is exploring other possibilities of extending the water facilities to other nearby communities through laying of pipes.
“We are yet to consult the hydrologists and the other technical men who worked on it again because the information we have received is that the water they hit is quite a lot and there is a possibility that they can develop it and extend out pipes to other places to so that other communities around can have access to water.
What we heard was that many people have come and try to drill boreholes but they couldn’t hit the water but by the grace of God we came here and we are witnessing water that is why the people have named the project ” Onyame na ay3 water projects”.
The supervisor of the water project Pastor Offei Badu who is the Koforidua Area Coordinator of Pentecost Social Services (PENTSOS), a charity wing of The Church of Pentecost recounted the challenges encountered during the construction of the mechanized borehole, however, added, the Church was determined to at all cost get safe water for the people hence happy the Glory of God has manifested.
Dademankye of Akpo -Bunase Community Alfred Teye Hogah was so excited that he lost for words when thanking The Church of Pentecost for the water facility quenching decades of thirst of the people.
He said, the intervention by the Church is divine therefore the Community has named the water project as “Onyame na ay3”, to wit, it is the doing of God.
He appealed to the Yilo Krobo Assembly to help lay pipes to connect the water facility to immediately surrounding villages.
Some women in the community including a physical challenge recounted their terrible experience in the decades-old struggle for safe water, therefore, excited for the provision of the mechanized borehole facility which would improve accessibility to safe water supply even during the dry season.
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Obed Ansah
