Residents of High Tension, a section of Janman, have lost hope that they will ever gain access to piped water or even boreholes. There seems to be no way out for a solution even though the community is located within the Weija Gbawe Municipality, the municipality that holds the source of treated water that serves almost half of Accra.

Located some 17 km north-west of Accra and only seven km from the Weija Dam, Janman is a fast-growing settlement in Accra and is largely supplied with water by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). However, the High Tension area is a huge exception. The population of High Tension as a section of Janman is not well known to the Municipal Authorities but the residents estimate it to be not less than 5,000 people.

Several environmental factors have contributed to the seemingly perennial water supply problems, paramount among which is its location. The High Tension area is located on top of a very high hill. Even though GWCL made an effort to extend their water distribution network to the area by laying some pipes in the community, the company’s systems have been unable to pump water up there due to the elevation. It is unclear why the GWCL would lay smaller pipes to the community even though, according to residents, the company’s officials have claimed that larger pipes should have been laid to boost the pressure.

The inability of GWCL to pump water uphill also played a major role of the inability of residents of Janman High Tension to enjoy the government’s free Covid-19 mitigation water package from April to June 2020. According to the Assembly Member, a water reservoir was erected within the community and efforts were made to connect it to the GWCL water distribution network. However, not a drop of water entered the tank due to the same issue with elevation.

Closely linked to the difficulty in supplying water to the community is the bad nature of roads in the community. Already hilly, the roads are rocky and simply bad. Not a single street has been properly constructed or properly surfaced. No street has any form of drain and several of them are simply unmotorable by any type of vehicle. Therefore, while tanker operators would normally be willing to extend their services to the residents of High Tension, the bad roads have prevented them from doing so. They have therefore refused to extend their trade into the community. The ‘free-water’ tank could therefore not be operated through the use of tanker services. Therefore, there was no free water at all for residents at Janman High Tension.

Attempts by a couple of households to construct boreholes have also failed as they were unable to hit water probably due to the hilltop location.

Not only water tankers have refused to serve households at High Tension; waste management companies have also avoided them. They have refused to provide household and communal bins in the community because the roads are not suitable for their trucks. People therefore either burn their refuse or dump them along the roads and in nearby bushes.

As residents are compelled to buy water downhill from household vendors amidst several difficulties including having to carry water on their head to climb the hill, they are reluctant to use their flush toilets at home. Most households have therefore constructed temporal pit latrines, most of which cannot be considered as improved facilities, for household use. Many have also simply resorted to open defecation within nearby bushes.

Unfortunately, there is no Landlords Association in the area, neither is there any known pressure group to fight their course for them, but they say they are ready to cooperate with anybody who wants to support Janman High Tension to gain access to water.

Elsewhere within the same Janman community – the low-lying areas – there is no problem with access to water. Houses have been connected and water flows normally. Water bills for residents were duly absorbed by the government during the free water period, according to the Assembly Woman. Accordingly, it was observed that handwashing stations were more visible in front of shops, an indication that handwashing practice has improved. People used their flush household toilets as usual, except those who do not simply have one.

In collaboration with the End Water Poverty Campaign, the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) is undertaking a project on Rights to Water for selected communities.  The project aims to support communities without sustainable and adequate access to water to advocate for better Water services in their communities. Janman is one of the communities identified for the advocacy support by the Weija Gbawe Municipal Assembly.

By Emmanuel Addai