Access to clean water in Kaleo-bile, a small farming community in the Wa East District, is a challenge as the people depend on a locally dug well and a nearby stream as their only source of water.
Women of the community in an interaction with the media during a tour, complained that access to water in the dry season was difficult as the well which served as their only source of water often dried up.
This, according to the women, has resulted in them battling with reptiles and other dangerous animals at the well site at night.
The media tour to the Bullenga health facility, Veihah and Kaleo-bile communities in the Wa East District of the Upper West Region was led by WaterAid Ghana with the aim of ascertaining the water and sanitation situation in those communities.
The members of the community said the situation also exposes them to waterborne diseases and this has affected productivity levels of women in the community.
In addition, the people said, they lacked a toilet facility in the community and lamented that the concept of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) has not yet been brought to their notice.
At Veihah, the water situation is not different as the people relied on a single borehole rehabilitated by Pronet North with financial support from WaterAid Ghana in the dry season.
They appealed to government and other stakeholders to come to their aid, help improve their lot and save them from preventable diseases.
While urging government and stakeholders to prioritise WASH activities to help meet the SDG target on water and sanitation, Madam Yvonne Kafui Nyako, the Communications and Campaigns Officer of WaterAid-Ghana, said Ghana has made some progress in water coverage which currently stands at 85 per cent.
She said WASH is a development issue which demanded financial commitments and expressed unhappiness that government approved about 255 million Ghana cedis for the sector this year which was quite low.

Madam Kafui said arresting the challenge of water and sanitation issues had a trickle-down effect on other development sectors, since it would help increase productivity through effective time management and reduction of water and sanitation related infections.
She said in order to help government achieve the SDG target on water and sanitation, WaterAid-Ghana was committed to supporting rural communities to have access to clean water and good sanitation through the CLTS concept.