The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has inaugurated the third phase of the District Water Supply Project for 95 communities at Adaklu-Waya in the Volta Region.
The five-phase € 11.5 million water system is to benefit 89,000 people.
The beneficiary Districts include Adaklu, Aortime-ZIiope, Ho-West, North- Tongu and Central Tongu Districts of the Volta region.
The project which was constructed by Strabag AG of Austria, was started in November 2020, and is aimed at finding lasting solution to groundwater challenges the beneficiary communities faced in the project areas.
As planned, work is expected to start on the fourth phase of the project, to end the water problem facing the people in parts of Central Tongu, Agortime-Ziope and the Ho- West Districts.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, the President stressed on the government’s determination to provide the basic needs of Ghanaians including access to quality water, and asked the people to trust and support government to deliver on its developmental agenda.
President Akufo-Addo said it was important for the beneficiary communities to protect the water system at all times to prolong the facility, saying 155 kilometre pipelines were laid from Adaklu-Waya to Ziope to extend water to the residents in the that district.
He assured of the government’s commitment to provide safe water for the people irrespective of their geographical location by the end of 2030 in line with SDG six, which targeted provision of quality and adequate water for all, and said government was committed to the task.
The President said government would through the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) continue to provide safe and reliable water supply to communities without water and noted that government had made significant progress in achieving the SDG six target.
He said water supply projects were ongoing at Bawjiase, Amasaman in the Central and Greater Accra Regions as part of the sustainable water supply project under CWSA and those completed water supply systems were part of water projects completed in 11 out of the 16 regions of the country.
President Akufo-Addo said the Sogakope-Keta Water supply project was on going at a total cost of more than € 85.1 to benefit over 422,000 residents, which would be completed in November 2024.
The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Madam Cecilia Dapaah said the ministry was taking necessary steps to ensure that the delivery of potable water supply served other productive uses for small enterprises within the beneficiary communities, to create direct and indirect jobs for the youth.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the CWSA, Dr Worlanyo Kwadjo Siabi said under the phase three of the project, 95 new communities were connected through 175 pipelines of different sizes, which had reduced the problem of pipe burst and illegal water connections.
Dr Siabi observed that the major challenges contributing to high non-revenue water within water distribution networks was illegal connections, adding that the water system was not only meant to provide drinking water to the people but also to improve on public health and reduce water related diseases.
FROM LAWRENCE MARKWEI, ADAKLU-WAYA
