Aqua Vitens Rand to address perennial water shortage in Accra

Tema, Dec. 10, GNA - Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL), operators for Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), would re-double efforts at bridging the gap between the increasing demand for water and supply in some parts of the Greater-Accra Region.

Mr Daniel Muomaalah, General Manager of the Company in charge of Customer Care Services, in the Accra-Tema Metropolitan Area, said the company would have to make huge capital investment in water delivery, in order to address the perennial shortage facing areas like Ashalley Botwe, Adenta, Kuku Hill, Osu and Labone.

Mr Muomaalah was interacting with newsmen in Tema on Wednesday after staff of AVRL and Ghana Water Company Limited went on a float through some of the principal streets in Tema to commemorate this years' World AIDS Day in the Metropolis, which fell on December 1. The programme was jointly organized by AVRL, the German Technical Co-operation (GTZ), the Ghana Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS (GBCA) and the National AIDS Commission.

It was to create awareness about the AIDS pandemic, and the need to guard against indiscriminate and casual sex. Mr Muomaalah said the current daily water supply of 80 million gallons in the region as against the demand of 150 million gallons was woefully inadequate.

He said the East/West Inter-connection Water Project which was completed last year to ensure availability of water supply to most distressed communities, had not served the desired purpose. Mr Moumaalah said further expansion works would be undertaken at the Kpong Head Works next year to increase the current water supply capacity from 36 million gallons daily to about 80 million gallons. On HIV/AIDS, Mr Edward Quaye, Health and Safety Manager of the Company who is also the National Focal Person on HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy, said last year, management spent about 55,000 dollars on treatment, counseling, and the provision of anti-retroviral drugs to affected workers of the company and their families.

Mr Quaye said this formed part of the company's HIV/AIDS workplace policy to combat and reduce the spread of the pandemic and its stigmatization.

He said the company had voted a total of 75,000 dollars for the next three years, to sensitize and provide treatment to affected staff and their families.

Dr Derek Nii Armah Aryee, Programme Director of the Ghana Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS advised Ghanaians not to engage in casual sex, but to use condom to protect themselves from contracting the disease. Later, health personnel took members through HIV/AIDS, Diabetes, Tuberculosis, and Hypertension screening.