There is no end in sight for the people of Gonteng, a farming community in the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, to stop open defecation.
The community, which has a population of about 300 has no toilets, no potable water, no health facility (not even a drug store), but has electricity and a very terrible road network.
According to the regent of the area, Mr John Akrong Laryea, the road which was constructed by Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, had since been abandoned by successive governments.
He, therefore, appealed to the established institutions in-charge of water and sanitation to come to their aid immediately, to avoid disaster as there could be an outbreak of cholera and other water borne diseases.
Mr Laryea brought their predicament to the fore when journalists visited the area on Monday to assess the water and sanitation situation ahead of the World Water Day celebration, which falls on March 22, each year.
This year’s theme is “Leaving no one behind: Water is a human right.”
Other issues of great concern to the people also include lack of accommodation for teachers, inadequate classrooms as the only school block built to house primary one to class three pupils now houses six stages; thus class one to class six pupils are sharing the three classrooms.
Sadly only three trained teachers including a head teacher are manning the school with the support of a female community teacher.
One of the teachers, Mr Christopher Adjetey Adjei, said that teachers posted by the Ghana Education Service to the area refused to come because of the lack of amenities, which affected teaching and learning.
He said that he had spent about three years in the community and would soon leave if conditions were not improved.
By Casreo Zangina-Tong
