PGhana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Foundation has inaugurated a borehole each in 40 communities in the Northern, Savannah and North East regions to help address water scarcity in the regions.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony held at Kanshegu, one of the beneficiary communities in the Savelugu Municipality in the Northern Region on Saturday, the Executive Director of GNPC, Dr Dominic Eduah, said the GNPC Foundation, in 2018, constructed 100 boreholes throughout the country as part of the corporate social investment drive of the Corporation.
He said apart from the Northern, Savannah and North East regions benefiting from the 40 boreholes, Upper East and Upper West regions had benefited from 10 boreholes each, while 20 were sited at needy communities in the Brong Ahafo and Central regions.
According to Dr Eduah, the GNPC, through the foundation, conducted the needs assessment of the beneficial communities where it was undertaking oil exploration.
The major problem confronting the communities were lack of potable water, he said, adding that, “whilst majority of the community members, particularly women and girls, travel very long distances in search of water, others have to depend on unwholesome water nearby for consumption, leading to health complications.”
Dr Eduah said: “As the GNPC inaugurates these facilities, we are happy that the water problems in the communities will be a thing of the past.”
He assured that the corporation would continue to perform its corporate social responsibility, hinting that GNPC would further provide additional water facilities, scholarships, educational infrastructure, health and sports facilities, apart from supporting in the areas of science, mathematics and technology, among others.
The Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed, lauded the GNPC Foundation for providing the water facilities, saying in addition to the water facilities, the foundation had created jobs for the youth in the area.
He was optimistic that, “if the GNPC completes its exploration work, and starts its operational activities, it would help provide more employment for the community members in the northern parts of the country, and help curb the rural-urban migration.”
The Municipal Chief Executive for the Savelugu Municipal Assembly, Hajia Ayeshitu Seidu, expressed her gratitude for the support, saying the area was in deficit in terms of school infrastructure and appealed to the GNPC Foundation to come to their aid.
The Member of Parliament for the Savelugu Constituency, Sumed Gunu, indicated that there were still many communities in the constituency which lacked potable water and pleaded with the GNPC Foundation and other organisations to come to the aid of the communities.
FROM SAMUEL AKAPULE, KANSHEGU