Chief Manager Charles Brobbey interacting with the delegation at the Kpong Plant
A four-man delegation headed by the Sierra Leonean Minister for Water Resources, Dr Jonathan Bonopha Tengbe, has visited the country to study the operations of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).
The visit formed part of a due diligence survey carried out by the Sierra Leonean government with the aim of ascertaining the competence of a potential investor, China Gezhouba Group Company Limited, which had expressed interest in assisting the country improve its water situation.
Upon approval, the company would augment the water supply in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, by financing and constructing a water treatment plant that has the capacity of supplying at least 100,000 cubic metres of water per day with intake from the Orugu River.
The said company happened to be the contractor of the Kpong Water Supply Expansion Project which currently produces about 181,000 cubic metres of water per day – equivalent to 40 million gallons per day to parts of Accra.
Consequently, the delegation accompanied by the Chief Manager Accra Tema Metropolitan Area (ATMA) Production of GWCL, Charles Brobbey, toured the Kpong water treatment facility consisting of both old and new works, and the China-Gezhouba plant which was commissioned in 2014.
The team was furnished with insights into the operations of the facility, taking cognisance of maintenance, operational control, energy requirement, water intake capacity and water distribution mechanisms.
In his address, Mr Brobbey indicated that government being impressed with the work of the company was committed to engaging the service of the company to begin the second phase of the project, this year, when further expansion would lead to an additional provision of 40 million gallons per day.
He also disclosed that mechanisms were being put in place to ensure that volumes of water supplied to boosting stations could be ascertained for commercialisation and auditing purpose.
Dr Tengbe who in an interview expressed his satisfaction over the management of the facility said that factors such as topography and energy source would be crucial in determining the level of modifications that would be required in the project design if approved by the Sierra Leonean government.
Early on, the team paid a courtesy call on the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah and the Managing Director of GWCL, Dr Clifford Braimah.
By Issah Mohammed