Vivo Energy Ghana, on Wednesday handed over two newly constructed hand-pump boreholes and educational materials to the people and school children of Hiamankyene, a community in the Ashanti Mampong Municipality of Ashanti Region.
In addition, the company in collaboration with its staff and Shell retailers also donated building materials to the Brengo Presbyterian Basic School for the reconstruction of some dilapidated classroom blocks in the municipality, where most of the children from Hiamakyene have to walk a long distance to school.
Over the years, the people of Hiamankyene have had to resort to unclean water sources for drinking and other domestic purposes, leading to several deaths and sickness in the community.
Additionally, the company has also helped to address the plight of the people who are predominately farmers from the Upper East Region and for decades have not had access to potable water.
Commissioning the projects, the Managing Director of Vivo Energy Ghana, Mr Ben Hassan Ouattara, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to supporting deprived communities to create the needed social impact and ultimately enhancing the quality of life.
However, there are still areas that remain unserved and underserved, and this means that without this basic need, the lives of millions of children are at risk.
“Households, schools, farms and others are struggling to survive and thrive in this condition, and as a company that is committed to the socio-economic advancement of communities; we cannot look away while innocent lives are exposed to waterborne diseases, through unsafe drinking water,” he stated.
Mr Ouattara further commended the efforts of the Mampong Municipal Assembly for providing capacity building training to the Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) Committee to ensure the proper maintenance of these facilities.
The initiative by Vivo Energy Ghana, he said, forms part of the company’s broader sustainability programme, dubbed ‘ Energy for Water and Education’, aimed at supporting the government’s efforts in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and 6, which centre on quality education and clean water and sanitation respectively.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Simon Osei-Mensah, in a speech read on his behalf, reiterated the government’s effort towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by partnering with corporate institutions to deliver projects that responded to the needs of Ghanaians.
“The government is committed to realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and one of the ways of achieving this is by collaborating with organisations like Vivo Energy Ghana, to undertake projects that positively impact our communities,” he added.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Mampong Constituency, Mr Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong, expressed his appreciation to the company and admitted that the construction of the boreholes for Hiamankyene had significantly reduced the cost for developmental projects in his constituency.
The Chief of Hiamankyene, Ayaabah Agurugu, was particularly grateful to Vivo Energy for the boreholes, which were their source of livelihood and the donation of educational materials to every child in the community.
FROM TIMES REPORTER, HIAMANKYENE
