Work begins on expansion of Weija Water treatment

Work has started on a 32 million dollar expansion of the Weija Water treatment plant to interconnect the Accra East and West pipelines which the government hopes will address "the nagging issue of water shortage in Accra in a sustained manner."

A sod-cutting ceremony to start the "Accra East and West Pipeline Interconnection Project," as it is dubbed, was performed by President J. A. Kufuor at the Weija plant, yesterday.

Under the project, the capacity of the Weija Treatment Plant will be increased with an additional 15 million gallons of water supply a day. Eight million of that will be transferred into the Accra Terminal Reservoir at Okponglo to augment supply from the Kpong Treatment Plant to serve the north eastern parts of Accra.

It is envisaged that more than 850,000 people living in these areas will benefit from the expansion. They include Madina, Legon, Adenta, Ashalley Botwe and beyond, Nima, parts of Kotobabi, Accra New Town, Cantonments, Labone, La, Teshie, Ashongman, Dome, Kwabenya as well as the newly developing settlements along the Nsawam road.

The project is being financed from a 20-million-dollar grant from Scancom Ghana Limited, operators of Areeba, with a counterpart funding of 12 million dollars from the government.

The project contractors are Messrs Ballast Nedam, a Dutch construction firm who have 18 months to complete it.

President Kufuor said the government has embarked on short-to-medium and long-term measures to address the nagging issue of water in a sustained manner.

Already, he said, the short-term measure which involves the drilling and mechanisation of boreholes in Dodowa and its surrounding areas as well as part of eastern Accra is about to be completed.

He said it is to meet the medium term needs of the Accra metropolis that the expansion of the Weija treatment plant and the Accra East and West pipeline interconnection project was being launched. The long term plan for the Accra-Tema metropolis up to the year 2030,he said, was to expand the Kpong Water Works by another 40 million gallons of water daily and government was seriously engaged in putting together the necessary resources for undertaking that phase.

President Kufuor commended Scancom Ghana Limited for assisting government to realise its objective of solving the water problem of parts of Accra.

"This is an example of the synergy that government is promoting between the public and private sectors to accelerate the country’s development. I commend the management of Scancom for meeting their social responsibility to the people of Ghana," he said.

Though the project was being implemented by a foreign firm, the President said he was happy that the pipes for the works would be supplied by Interplast Ghana Limited, a Ghanaian company.

He, however, challenged the contractors to complete the project within a shorter period than the stipulated 18 months without compromising the general integrity of the construction process.

President Kufuor said for a long time government policies have generally emphasized water exploitation for development without paying adequate attention to its conservation and sustainability.

He therefore called on the public to commit themselves to judicious management of water and water resources to ensure the supply of clean and fresh water.

On its part, he said, government has completed the preparation of a National Water Policy which is before Cabinet for approval.

The document will guide government an its agencies in the sustainable management of the national water resources and supply of potable water.

The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Hackman Owusu Agyemang, said government, has over the years been trying to increase water supply hence the ongoing expansion works at the Wa, Tamale, Assin, Cape Coast, Techiman, Mankessim, Kwahu and Berekum Water Works.

He said government would continue to do so throughout the country without any discrimination and therefore called on the people to support the government.