580 rural communities to benefit from electrification project

Tanodumase (Ash), Jan. 7, GNA- Five hundred and eighty rural communities in the country are to benefit from a 90-million dollar electrification project under the National Electrification Scheme (NES). It is being financed by the China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE) with an 81-million dollar loan facility while the government of Ghana pays a counterpart funding of 9 million dollars. The NES is a government of Ghana initiative, aimed at carrying out rural energy delivery in a multi-sectoral manner in the areas of health, education, sanitation and other components to reduce poverty and propel the country's growth agenda in a 30-year period. Communities from the Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Volta, Western, Greater Accra, Brong Ahafo and Upper West regions are expected to benefit from the CWE project.

Mr Kwame Ampfo Twumasi, Deputy Minister of Energy, who made this known, said the CWE project formed part of the 4th phase of the NES, which was supposed to benefit 2,000 communities in Ghana at a total cost of 480 million dollars.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the Ashanti Regional Rural Electrification Project at Tanodumase in the Atwi-Mponua District of Ashanti, on Friday.

He said the CWE had previously supported the NES at a cost of 32 million dollars for the extension of electricity to 144 communities under the Volta Lake Resettlement Township Electrification Project, which started in 2000 and completed in 2003. Mr Twumasi said about 4,000 rural communities had so far been connected to the national electricity grid under the NES, which was started in 1990, adding that, over 50 per cent of communities in Ghana now had access to electricity.

He noted that the new policy initiatives for the NES would be to connect five communities in each district to electricity as had been indicated in the 2008 budget, saying the emphasis would be on the productive uses of power and priority for projects would be based on it. The Deputy Minister said Solar (PV) Technology would be expanded to off-grid areas and would be targeted on health centres, telecom facilities, schools and where appropriate, productive enterprises. Mr Twumasi warned the contractors working on the project against shoddy works and called for early completion of the projects. Mr Osei Assibey-Antwi, Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, recounted a number of successes achieved by the government since if assumed office and said all the initiatives were meant to improve the living conditions of the people.

He said the Tanodumase junction to Tanodumase road had been awarded on contract as part of the Cocoa growing areas road rehabilitation project, while 400 boreholes would be dug to supply potable water to some communities in the district.

Mr Isaac Kwame Asiama, Member of Parliament for Atwima-Mponua, urged the people to support the government in its developmental agenda. Mr Wilberforce Owusu-Ansah, District Chief Executive for the area, said the rural electrification project would help boost socio-economic development in rural communities.