Nanton (N/R), April 19, GNA – A water supply system has been constructed for the Tampion Health Centre in the Nanton District of the Northern Region to provide access to safe water to enhance the operations of the facility.
The 50,000-litre water supply system has been designed to serve 12,000 people and comes with a design structure to give access to members of the community as well.
The project also involves the setting up of one solar panel (350 Watt) supplying 10 lights, phone charging (microscope), two fridges for reagents, drugs, and vaccines, as well as replacing the two hand pumps with two Grundfos solution pumps where each pump will be enabled to produce more than 50-meter cube per day of water, and 20,000-liters within the community.
Four handwashing stations have also been erected at the facility as part of the project.
The project was undertaken by HOPin Academy, an entrepreneurship ecosystem support organisation based in Tamale, as part of its Fix That Pump project, which was funded by Grundfos Foundation.
Mr Douglas Baiden, Project Coordinator, Fix That Pump project at HOPin Academy, speaking during the opening of the water supply system at the health facility at Tampion, said it was the organisation’s agenda to make water accessible and available at the facility hence the implementation of the project.
Mr Baiden said with the provision of reliable safe water to health facility, we expected “More patients using the clinic, healthier and more safe deliveries in the clinic, reduction of premature deaths of children, reduction of the running cost of the clinic (water charges), better services to the population (cold storage of reagents and drugs, better and more attractive workplace for the clinic personnel), and better security for personnel and patients.”
He attributed the successful execution of the project to strong team and commitment, community support to see the project work, the technology and innovation behind the Grundfos pumps, Grundfos Foundation and local authority’s acceptance of the project.
Mr Samuel Prah, Nanton District Director of Health, who received the water supply system on behalf of the district, acknowledged that access to potable water, safe drinking water, and water that was close to where you lived was a major challenge faced by the health center.
Mr Prah added that nurses refused to accept postings to the health center due to the water crisis.
He said “Patients, most especially pregnant women, who use the health center, would have to come along with their buckets of water in the event of delivery of a baby.”
He, therefore, applauded Grundfos Foundation and HOPin Academy for the intervention saying, “It is our hope that such life-changing project would be done at the other health centres within the district.”
Mr Abdulai Murtala, District Chief Executive for Nanton also expressed gratitude to Grundfos Foundation and HOPin Academy for coming to the aid of the district with the project.
Mr Murtala underscored the importance of access to water by communities saying “It, therefore, incumbent on us to find constructive ways of conserving and sustaining the access to clean and safe drinking water.”
He added that “Thus, we need to empower our young adults to come up with socio-economic and innovative ideas that help to solve and or manage and improve water accessibility to the ordinary citizen.”
Source: Ghana News Agency
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