Kpatinga, a farming community in the Gushegu District of the Northern Region will soon be provided with a water facility under the NORST Project to curtail the sufferings of the people. The only sources of drinking water for the people are rivers, dams and other unhygienic sources which frequently gives them water related infectious disease and epidemics. The lack of good drinking water in the area again poses a serious threat to food security and economic activities as the main occupation of people is farming. Most of the people suffer skin diseases, glaucoma and other water borne diseases due to the lack of access to clean and potable drinking water. The Northern Region Small Town Water and Sanitation (NORST) project therefore seeks to reduce the suffering of the people and eradicate the health risks associated with drinking water from dams, rivers and other unhygienic water sources. The Kpatinga water project which is valued at 84,000 Canadian Dollars, when completed, will serve over 9,000 people in Kpatinga and other neighboring communities in the Gushegu District. The project which is being funded by the Canadian Government through CIDA is to provide potable drinking water for all small towns and villages in the northern region by 2015. The Canadian Government, through CIDA, is contributing $30 million towards the project. It is targeted providing water and sanitation facilities in up to 30 small towns in 13 districts of the Northern Region. At a mobilization ceremony in Kpatinga, the people expressed their gratitude to CIDA, NORST and the Gushegu District Assembly for coming to their aid. Amidst drumming and dancing, the people commended the District Chief Executive for Gushegu, Mr Alhassan Fuseini for providing a lot of infrastructural development in the area. Addressing the people, the DCE assured them of completing the project on schedule to ease their burden. “This project is for you, so let’s work together so that the project will be completed in scheduled,” he said. He assured the NDC government was committed to fulfilling its mandate of building a better Ghana for all, saying that, the government will continue to better the lives of Ghanaians through its pro-poor and social intervention programmes. Story by Hamza Lansah/Gushegu/Tamale