DCE cuts sod for Kwamikrom water project

Kwamikrom, Sept 26, GNA - Mr Solomon Donkor, Jasikan District Chief Executive (DCE), has cut the sod to mark the beginning of work on a 4.88 billion-cedis mechanised pipe borne water project for Kwamikrom. Funding for the project was provided by the Department for International Development of Britain, the Jasikan District Assembly and the Kwamikrom community.

Contractors for the project are Top Engineering International of China.

In his remarks, Mr Donkor said improving access to potable water and ensuring safe sanitation is critical to achieving favourable health outcomes, which in turn facilitates economic growth and poverty reduction.

He said when completed, the Kwamikrom project would enhance school attendance, reduce women's workload and free them to participate effectively in economic empowerment and governance activities. The District Assembly and the community are expected to provide a counterpart fund of 195 million cedis each, representing five percent of the total contract sum.

Mr Donkor said the assembly had so far paid 97.9 million cedis while the community paid only 11.5 million cedis. He appealed to chiefs and opinion leaders to prevail on members of the community to pay the levies, warning that defaulters could be prosecuted.

The DCE advised the chiefs and people to undertake regular communal labour to keep the environment friendly, especially the project site. Mr Henry Ampah Johnson, Volta Regional Engineer of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, appealed to the community to cooperate with the workers who would come to live among them to execute the project.