The people of Sekondi-Takoradi and its environs are to benefits from a €70million water supply project. The project, which is expected to take about 40 months to be completed is funded from a concessionary loan between the Government of Ghana and Commerzbank AG of Germany with a grant element of 35%.
STRABAG of Austria is the contractor for the project and the expansion and rehabilitation is expected to increase the capacity by 100,000 cubic meter per day. The increased capacity, will be enough to meet demand up to year 2040 for an estimated population of 1.4 million.
The project will improve water supply in areas such as New Takoradi, Kansaworado, Effia, Mpatado, Assakae, Adientem, Anoe, Effia-Nkwanta, Kojokrom, Diabene, Kweikuma among others.
Cecila Dapaah, Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, at the sod cutting, explained that the project is in line with the agenda of government in ensuring that no region is left behind in the provision of potable water to stimulate the needed growth and development of the country.
The expansion works, she said, will include the construction of an intake, a new water treatment plant with its ancillary structures, transmission and distribution pipelines, service reservoirs, standpipes and house connection.
“It is the policy of government that by the year 2030 all people living in Ghana will have access to safe potable water in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6,” she added.
Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo, in an address on behalf of the President, noted that as the Twin City continue to attract more people as a result of its socio-economic potential, the rapid rate of population growth has however not been matched by the delivery of water supply, thereby threatening not only the health but also undermining the country’s efforts at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
According to him, government is committed to living up to its social responsibility by providing such indispensable services to the people of Ghana. “It is expected that the beneficiary communities will also contribute their quota towards ensuring the sustainability of the facilities by protecting the infrastructure through effective and regular maintenance as well as judicious use of the water,” he said.
He urged the contractor to use local skills and resources because it would create income for the local people. He also urged the contractor to complete the project on schedule.
Ing. Clifford Braimah, Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited explained that water systems for Sekondi-Takoradi and its environs are based on Pra River at Daboase and the Anakwari River at Inchaban.
The two water systems, he said were constructed in 1969 and 1928 respectively and in 2004, there was rehabilitation and expansion of the Sekondi-Takoradi water systems.
He said in order to ensure water is supplied to majority of the people within the metropolis, GWCL has had to ration water supply to selected areas on daily basis. “It is against this backdrop of continued population growth in the city and in keeping with the government’s drive towards providing water for all,” he said.
He entreated beneficiary communities to contribute their quota towards ensuring the sustainability of the sector, by protecting the water supply infrastructure and paying water bills promptly.
