Apataim Water project commissioned

Mr. James Baidoe, Nzema East Municipal Chief Executive, over the weekend said access to potable water is a major challenge to communities in the northern part of the municipality.

He said people in the northern resort to the use of poor quality water for drinking and domestic use, adding that, the performance of the Health Centre at Bamiankor, for instance, is impeded by lack of access to potable water.

Mr. Baidoe was commissioning Apataim Water Project undertaken by the Kosmos Energy, Ghana, Safe Water Network and the Nzema East Municipal Assembly at Apataim.

He said the water situation at Bamiankor has been aggravated by the building of a government Community Day Secondary School in the community.

Mr. Baidoe urged Kosmos Energy, Safe Water Network and other stakeholders to come to the aid of communities in the northern parts of the municipality and other needy communities in the area.

He said the Municipal Assembly is doing everything possible to provide the needs of communities within its limited resources.

Mr. Baidoe said government alone cannot develop the country without organizations and individuals complimenting its efforts and advised the people to observe the monthly “Sanitation Days” declared by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

He said the environment must be kept clean at all times to forestall the occurrence of cholera, Ebola and other diseases.

In an address read for him by Mr. Richard Quarcoe, Community Relations Supervisor of Kosmos Energy, Ghana, Mr. George Sarpong, the Director of corporate Affairs, said the Apataim Water Project formed part of the third phase of the company’s safe water project.

He said the third phase is to provide safe and affordable water to over 20,000 people in the company’s operational communities, which are underserved in the Western Region.

Mr.Sarpong said the company will build the capacities of communities to manage water systems and generate funds for the maintenance of the systems and their future expansion.

He said Kosmos Energy and Safe Water Network entered into a three-year agreement to provide safe water in communities in Kosmos Energy’s operational districts in 2012.

Mr. Sarpong said, “We cut the sword in 2012 to signify the ground breaking and later commissioned the first phase of the water project in April 2013, providing water to about 7,000 people in four communities”.

He said over the past two years, the project has provided cost effective, community managed, affordable safe water with improved hygiene solutions to about 15,000 people in 12 communities in the Nzema East Municipality and the Jomoro and Ellembele districts of the Western Region.

Mr. Sarpong said the second phase of the project provided safe and affordable drinking water to an additional 12,000 people at Eikwe, Anochie, Ngalekpoley, Krisan and Baku in the Ellembele District and Nzulezo in the Jomoro District.

Mr. Charles Nimako, Country Director of Safe Water Network, said the water system would be run like a business by the community members to sustain the project.

He assured the people that the network will ensure open and transparent management of the facility and thanked key stakeholders for supporting the network to provide safe and affordable water to needy communities.