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26.08.2016 Social News

Water coverage in Central Region to hit nearly 80 per cent

26.08.2016 LISTEN
By GNA

By Afedzi Abdullah, GNA
Abrem Agona (C/R), Aug. 25, GNA - Potable water supply coverage rate in the Central Region is expected to hit 78 per cent average by December 2016, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, has said.

The Current water coverage in the Region stands at 68 per cent.

The Minister made this known when he paid a working visit to the Brimsu Water Dam and the Abrem Agona Water Project to access progress of work.

The Abrem Agona Water Project in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality when completed would solve the perennial water shortage faced by residents in some parts of the Region.

The project, which is expected to benefit more than 400,000 people in the Cape Coast Metropolis and its surrounding communities, would primarily inter-connect the two water systems at Sekyere Hemang and Brimsu.

About 3.1 million gallons of treated water from Sekyere Hemang would be supplied to the two water wells at Abrem Agona and, subsequently, made available to areas with supply from the Brimsu head works.

The project, being undertaken with support from the Netherlands Government under its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme, is expected to be completed ahead of schedule in December.

Interacting with the media after his visit, Dr Mensah said the water supply coverage for the Cape Coast Metropolis and the neighbouring KEEA Municipality improved after the completion of the 6.6 million gallons daily capacity water treatment plant at Sekyere Hemang.

He, however, noted that in the dry season when the level of the Brimsu dam, another source of water supply in the region was low, Cape Coast and its neighbouring communities experienced acute water supply shortages.

He said the Government was, therefore, committed to investing in water infrastructure to ensure access to potable water for all Ghanaians by 2025 and enumerated some of the interventions Government was putting in place to addresses water problems across the country.

The Minister also visited the Kwamoano/Amarkrom and Nyinabontoa Water Supply System, a sustainable rural water and sanitation project, which was inaugurated last year with a nine-member management team.

Besides the water supply system, the Government has constructed 18 boreholes in 18 communities in the Hemang Lower Denkyira District in a bid to address the water problems in the district.

Nana Nyansabuakwa, the Chief of Kwamoano, expressed gratitude to the Government for the interventions put in place to address the water problems in the area as the provision of potable water had helped to reduce water-borne diseases.

He appealed to the Government to take stringent measures to tackle illegal mining, which he said was destroying the water bodies in the area.

Mr Berchmans Ackom, the Regional Distribution Manger of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), said the Abrem Agona Water Supply Project was necessitated by the perennial water shortages in Cape Coast, Elmina and its neighbouring communities.

He said per the demands from these areas, GWCL thought it wise to resort to Sekyere Hemang, which had constant source from the River Pra to complement that of Brimsu to meet the high demand.

He said illegal mining activities contaminated water bodies with chemicals metals, hence the need for more Chlorine and other treatment agents to purify and process the water for consumption.

As a result, he said, the GWCL incurred more costs in treating water for supply.

Dr Mensah earlier paid a courtesy call on the Central Regional Minister, Mr George Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, where issues relating to water and housing in the Region were discussed.

They also deliberated the construction of an ultra-modern office complex for institutions and agencies in the dilapidated Ministry's block in Cape Coast.

GNA

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