Ghanaian Times: Keta Water project must not stall

Water is life and plays a significant role in human life.  It quenches thirst, flushes out waste from the body, regulates body temperature and helps the body to function properly.

Apart from other uses of water by humans, including food preparation, bathing, and construction works, plants and animals cannot survive without water.

Due to the significance of the role water plays, especially with regard to the human body, it is important that water which is consumed is potable.

Indeed, the Sustainable Development Goal 6 targets access to water and sanitation for all by 2030 and it is incumbent on every government to implement projects in the water and sanitation area.

It is for this reason that The Ghanaian Times finds it satisfying that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has cut the sod for work on the Keta Water Supply Rehabilitation and Expansion Project in the Volta Region to begin.

The €85-million project in the South Tongu District, scheduled to be completed within two years, would involve the rehabilitation of the existing Keta Water Treatment Plant to restore it to its installed capacity of 7,200m3/day and the construction of a new water treatment facility, with a capacity of 35,000m3/day.

When completed, the project would supply potable water to over 422,160 people in communities including Kpodze, Kpotame, Vume, Tefle, Sokpoe, Dabala Junction, Tregui, Badadzi, Havedzi, Adzato, Suipe, Adutor, Horvi-Amedzi, Devegodo, Horvi-Kokoroko, Salo, Galo, Agortoe, Kpenu, Lolito, Floto, Lotame, and New Town.

At the sod cutting ceremony, President Akufo-Addo noted that the existing water supply system in the area was unable to meet the increasing demand for water due to rapid population growth.

Additionally, he said, it was difficult to use groundwater as an alternative source of potable water because the groundwater in those parts of the region was mostly saline.

Although the project is long overdue, it is commendable that it has started to finally bring relief to the thousands of residents in the area who have, for many years, suffered to get access to potable water.

We, however, hope the Lesico Company Limited, the infrastructure firm executing the project, would complete it as scheduled while the government would provide the needed support to achieve its aim of giving the people potable water, which is a factor in ensuring good health.

Our hope for the timely execution of the water project is on the basis that there are a number of projects which have been heralded by funfair but have stalled for several reasons and we wish this does not happen to the Keta project.

The completion of the project would not only bring relief to the residents of the afore-mentioned areas but also help the country draw closer to achieving the SDG on water and sanitation.

It would also help safeguard the health of the people as diseases associated with contaminated water would reduce.