Government to construct 25,300 boreholes and water systems – Adda
Sanitation and Water Resources Minister, Mr. Joseph Kofi Adda, has announced the decision to sink 25,000 boreholes and construct 300 small water systems to expand access to quality water supply across the nation.
This, he said, formed part of the government’s “water and sanitation for all” programme.
He was addressing the biennial review conference of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CSWA) at Fumesua in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality.
“Rural water and sanitation services provision; current role of CWSA, gaps and the way forward for effective and sustainable delivery” was the theme chosen for the five-day meeting.
It provided the platform to deliberate on the achievements, the challenges and how to deal with these, as well as the implementation of future projects.
Mr. Adda spoke of the determination of the ministry to go the extra mile to ensure the safety of water supplied to the population.
He made reference to the findings of a study by a team of researchers from the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany, that showed that water from boreholes drank by the people contained tadpoles and chemicals and said that gave cause for concern.
That was why everything would be done to make sure that the right things were done and standards kept, he added.
The Minister hinted of strong push towards the promotion of public-private partnership, to fund the urban water sub-sector and said good progress was being made.
The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) had already responded – made available GHȼ2 million.
He encouraged the CWSA to work closely with research institutions to improve the quality of water.
He reminded the Agency that issues relating to water, sanitation and hygiene had assumed greater importance and urgency and that it could not be business usual.
Mr. Worlanyo Kodjo Siabe, Chief Executive of CWSA, noted that funding had remained a huge challenge, something, which was making it difficult to effectively monitor water, sanitation and hygiene services.
The funding constraint was such that it had over the last years been unable to provide new boreholes and toilets in four of the 10 regions.
He said given the needed support it could help to substantially bring down open-defecation in the communities.
Source: GNA