Water Shortage In Tamale Worsens

The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, has stated that the water shortage in the Tamale Metropolis has worsened, because successive governments had not taken the factor of population growth in the Metropolis into the planning process of water delivery.

He said that the population growth in the metropolis had far out-stripped the capacity of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to supply adequate water to meet the needs of its residents. Alhaji Boniface made the observations when he addressed a meeting of the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) at Tamale.

He said contrary to public perception, the NPP government was committed to solving the Tamale water problem once and for all, adding that ?We are not interested in ad-hoc measures. We are sure that work towards a permanent solution to the water crisis will commence next year.?

The Regional Minister said that the problems facing the University Development Studies (UDS) and the Tamale Teaching Hospital, which he said was built in 1974 and had so deteriorated, would need proper planning and massive injection of funds to bring them to an acceptable standard.

He announced that the basic agreements for the rehabilitation works on the hospital had been completed, adding that ?By the end of next year hopefully, the project would be completed.?

Alhaji Boniface said the government was in the process of acquiring a 25-acre land on the Tamale-Yendi road to enable retired occupants of the affordable houses to build their own houses, as they vacated their current accommodation. In pursuit of this initiative, he urged the directors of the Town and Country Planning Department, Lands Commission, Survey Department and the Metropolitan and District Assemblies to speed up the process of getting the necessary documents to enable the project to commence early in the region.