About 600,000 Ghanaians to get potable water before 2015

Supomu-Dunkwa, April 23, GNA - About 600,000 people in the

Western, Central, Brong Ahafo, Eastern, Upper East and Western Regions

are expected to benefit from the World Bank funded Small-Town Water

supply Project in Ghana, before 2015. Mr Joseph Jonah, an engineer of the Community Water and Sanitation

Agency (CWSA), the implementing body, disclosed this at the launch of

the project at Supomu-Dunkwa in the Shama District of the Western

Region. He said that under the sanitation component of the project, household

latrines for individuals and communities would be provided, to prevent

indiscriminate defecation that causes diseases like cholera, dysentery and

diarrhoea. Mr Jonah said that the CWSA would construct 20 boreholes and

stand-pipes, which individuals could connect to their homes in the

Supomu-Dunkwa area. He said that Government had scrapped the 5 per cent payment by

beneficiary communities but they would bare the cost of maintaining the

facilities to ensure sustainable management. Mr Jonah said the communities would be expected to own the project

and monitor and manage the facilities. Mr. Emmanuel Nkrumah, Water and Sanitation Specialist with the

Ghana Office of the World Bank, said the Bank had voted 75 million

dollars for the entire project. He noted that sanitation had become a major problem in Ghana and

called for community-led approach to ensure the successful execution of

the project. Madam Emelia Arthur, Deputy Minister of the Western Region, said

Government was playing a critical role in the provision of potable water to

the people, to promote development. She said, consequently, Ghana Government had signed an agreement

with the Spanish Government to treat sea water for domestic use in Ghana. Nana Pansor IV, Chief of Supomu-Dunkwa, commended the

Government of Ghana for initiating schemes to improve water delivery in

the country and pledged the people's support for the project.