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Residents of Amanase and Dome in the Sekyere South District of the Ashanti Region for the past five years have been drinking from a contaminated stream due to the lack of potable water in the two communities.

The predicament of the two communities, according to the Assembly member for Amanase/Dome Electoral Area, Akwasi Appiah Ababio, followed what he described as the “lackadaisical attitude” by a contractor to abandon work on a water storage reservoir project for the communities.

The abandoned reservoir when completed, Mr Ababio said, would be the main source of water for the people.

“We shall use the water reservoir to collect natural water from the stream and treat it before the residents will use for both domestic and commercial purposes,” he added.

The assemblyman expressed sadness with regard to the lack of potable water for his people.

However, when Today visited the stream which is currently serving as the main source of drinking water for a population of over 2,500, it was observed that the stream water was very dirty, brownish and full of impurities with animals drinking from it.

The residents in separate interviews lamented that despite their closeness to the district capital, Agona, they had no access to good drinking water.

They disclosed that in the dry season, the stream dries up which situation leaves residents to their own fate.

“We have no option but to drink from the same stream because we just have to survive. But we need assistance from any individual to provide us with boreholes in the area. We are subsistence farmers and need government intervention,” they appealed.

Some traditional leaders in the area also expressed sadness regarding their predicament.

“We vote during elections because politicians come to seek for our votes, but they never fulfill their promises to us. We are therefore appealing to philanthropists, other agencies and even the government to provide us with a primary health care centre where our women and children can access health care,” a traditional leader said.