An International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO), Plan International Ghana has commissioned and handed over a mechanised water system to the Atonkor-Buem Community in the Jasikan Municipality of the Oti Region.
The mechanised water system facility falls under Plan International Ghana’s Integrated Package for Sustainable Development (IPADEV) project, which has been rolled out in the Jasikan and West Mamprusi municipalities.
The commissioning and handing over of the mechanised water system facility ceremony conceded with the commemoration of the 2023 Global Handwashing Day which is a global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap under running water as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives.
Addressing the chief, elders, community members, and students at the commissioning and handing over ceremony, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Jasikan Municipal Assembly, Madam Elizabeth Kessewaah Anim Adjornor highly commended the management of Plan Ghana and the IPADEV project team for choosing her municipality for the provision of such transformative, life-changing and life-enhancing projects.
Madam Anim Adjornor explained that the fundamental importance of the provision of clean and safe water for the Atonkor-Buem and other communities in the Jasikan Municipality cannot be underestimated. Saying it is the very essence of life itself.
“The availability of clean and safely managed water both in terms of it quantity and quality stands as a cornerstone in its edifice of community development hence the establishment of this water facility by Plan Ghana and its partners.” the MCE for Jasikan Municipal Assembly retorted.
According to her, the provision of the mechanised water system and other sanitary facilities forms part of the remarkable achievement by the municipality and its partners in their relentless effort to ensure that every resident in the Jasikan Municipal Assembly has the fundamental right to assess clean and safe water.
Madam Anim Adjornor used the occasion to appeal to residents to adopt proper and regular hand washing in other to avoid contracting preventable diseases.
The MCE for Jasikan Municipal Assembly has, however, assured the providers of the mechanised water system of the municipality’s commitment to undertake good maintenance practices to ensure the facility lives up to its lifespan.
She also appealed to the board and management of Plan International Ghana to extend the project to cover the remaining communities in the municipality that are without clean and safely managed Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) systems.
On his part, the Country Director of Plan International Ghana, Mr. Solomon Tesfamariam, reiterated the aim for the rolling-out of the IPADEV project, saying the project seeks to contribute to creating a resilient and protective environment both at home and at school for better health and learning outcomes for children, especially girls through equitable access to and effective utilization of WASH, Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD), education, health facilities, and services.
Speaking on the theme “Clean hands are within reach”, the Country Director of Plan International Ghana, Mr. Solomon Tesfamariam, called on all stakeholders to scale up hand-washing initiatives in order to achieve global and national targets.
According to him, achieving global and national hand washing targets does not only require individual hand hygiene behavior, but a consented effort to create an enabling environment that supports the scale-up of hand hygiene within a local system.
The Country Director of Plan International Ghana presented some hand hygiene management equipment such as Teckey tap, soaps, and tissue towels among others to schools, health facilities, and public places with the beneficiary communities.
The Chief of Atonkor-Buem, Nana Asiedu Adjedu IV, who chaired the ceremony, thanked the Country Director of Plan International Ghana, and IPADEV project team members, for coming to the aid of the community.
He also pledged to oversee the proper maintenance of the facility to ensure its sustainability.
By Kwadwo BUABENG