Nsawam water crisis: Blame govt – MP

The Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri in the Eastern region, Frank Annor-Dompreh, has said government should take the blame for the acute water shortage prevailing in his constituency.

The people of Nsawam and Adoagyiri have been hit by severe water shortage forcing many residents to rely on tankers and water sourced from the polluted Densu River for domestic use.

Mr Dompreh told Accra News Thursday February 11, 2016 that the insincerity and evasiveness of the Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Samuel Yaw Adusei, in responding to his questions when he appeared before parliament, added weight to his position that the government’s poor handling of the matter led to the current difficulties.

The lawmaker said when the sector minister appeared before the House on November 11, 2015, he promised that the Nsawam Water Treatment Project (NWTP) would be completed in December of that year, but this was not honoured, leading to a worsening of the situation.

He said the first part of the two-phase project was completed during the Kufuor administration, but an agreement with the international contractor for pipe laying was terminated after the governing party won the 2008 elections.

A local firm was then awarded the contract but a multiplicity of issues around the project caused another abrogation, he said.

The second phase of the project, which involved the rehabilitation of the treatment plant and expansion of the dam to improve water flow, was boosted with an €11 million counterpart funding by the Belgian government. The government of Ghana, he said, failed to provide the remaining amount for the project, hence the stalling of the project.

He said he is now shouldering the responsibility of supplying water to communities, schools, and other essential service providers in his constituency, ever since the situation became serious.