Cecilia Abena Dapaah
Cabinet has granted approval for the third phase of the Districts Water Supply Scheme also known as the STRABAG Project.
According to the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the project is designed to provide water to 183 communities and about 222,075 people in the Central Tongu, North Tongu, Ho West, Adaklu and Agortime Ziope districts.
She explained that upon completion of the first two phases, Parliament approved another loan facility of €11.5 million in April 2020 to be financed by Raiffeisenbank International of AG/Vienna for the implementation of the third phase.
She made this known at the Ministry of Information Press Briefing in Accra yesterday.
According to the minister, the project includes the completion of the distribution network in areas already connected by transmission mains, with drinking water treatment plant constructed under phase 1&2; and the connection of Waya to Kutime by transmission mains, with three water towers and a distribution network along the transmission main.
Sanitation Authority, Fund
Besides, she noted that the government had started the process to establish a National Sanitation Authority and Fund.
The authority when established, according to the minister, would help improve the monitoring of the various sanitation projects and mobilize funding for sanitation services in the country.
She pointed out that in a bid to ensure the constant supply of environmental sanitation officers, the three schools of hygiene had seen major infrastructural development.
“Additionally, the ministry has obtained financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance to engage the remaining 1,174 graduates from the three Schools of Hygiene. These are graduates from 2010 to 2019 and in collaboration with Office of the Head of the Local Government Service, they are going through the necessary recruitment processes,” she indicated.
The minister said in 2017, a policy reform was initiated in the Community Water and Sanitation sub-sector to expand the mandate of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA).
“To this end, government has spent a total of GH¢60 million to rehabilitate and expand 151 small town piped water systems across the country. Most of these systems were in a state of disrepair at the time the CWSA took over,” she said.
The minister added that as part of measures to introduce new skills to support the introduction of innovation and technology in water systems management, 1,087 professionals (engineers, water safety specialist, accountants) and 409 auxiliary staff (plumbers, technical operators) had been employed.
“An additional 250 jobs are expected to be created by the close of the year. In addition, GH¢3.3 million out of GH¢5 million outstanding electricity bills incurred by the Water and Sanitation Management Teams has been paid resulting in the restoration of power to the water supply infrastructure in the communities.”
5,100 Waste Bins
Meanwhile, the ministry has launched a Street Litter Bin programme under which 5,100 litter bins have been distributed to control public littering in selected metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) in the Ashanti, Central, Greater Accra, Northern, Oti, Volta and Western regions.
Madam Dapaah noted that an additional 3,000 bins were currently being deployed out of which 600 had been donated to the Ministry of Defence for distribution to the Ghana Armed Forces.
She mentioned that two Transfer Stations would be constructed at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission and the Adentan Municipality respectively.
“I am happy to announce that the contractor has mobilized to the two sites and works are progressing steadily. The ministry has also procured Messrs. EAP Consult Limited, a local Engineering firm as consultants to supervise the project to ensure quality control,” she stated.
By Melvin Tarlue