Scarce water forced me out of East Legon - Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama is touting what he indicated has been unparalleled effort by government to provide potable water to Ghanaians.

Recalling the dire water situation in the country some years back, he mentioned some areas in the capital Accra where residents hardly get pipe water flowing through their taps, forcing them to rely on tanker services at cut throat price.

Such difficult situation, President Mahama told Tamale-based Radio Savannah Thursday, compelled him to relocate from his affluent residential area of East Legon to resettle at Dzorwulu in Accra. During that period, the use of yellow jelly cans popularly known as Kufuor gallons were very common, but this has now been “removed” due to the “massive” work done in the water sector by his government.

In the Greater Accra alone, about 80 millions of gallons a day has been added to the existing water supply, he underscored.

“Today places like Ashaley Botwe, Madina, East Legon are all getting water. I used to live in East Legon myself, I moved out of East Legon because of the water shortage to Dzorwulu where water was flowing. Today if you go to East Legon, the taps are flowing because we have increased water delivery to the Accra metropolis by more than 53 million gallons a day. We have also set up the desalination plant that is processing sea water and converting it into potable water. That is also delivering 30 million gallons of water a day to the eastern part of Accra,” he said.

From independence in 1957 to 2007 about 14 million people had access to clean drinking water, he pointed out, adding that from 2008 to date 7 million more people now have access to safe drinking water in the country.

This he attributed to the expansion works on existing dams and the addition of several others including the desalination project at Teshie-Nungua.

In the Northern sector for instance, “hundreds of small town water system” have been undertaken to increase access to safe and reliable water.

The design for Yendi water system has been completed, and funds secured for the project, the president said, adding that what is left is for the project to go through the procurement process.

He also mentioned that the design for the Damongo water project has been done.

The national coverage of access to potable water hovered around 56% in 2008, but President Mahama is predicting that it will hit 76% by 2021, way ahead of the 2025 deadline set to achieve universal coverage of access to safe drinking water.