Gov’t invests over US$740 million into water projects to improve access

The government has invested US$740 million in eight water supply projects and US$1.2 million in the rural water supply to improve potable water access nationwide.

Those projects are at various implementation stages and are expected to benefit an additional five million people in the water supply chain upon completion in 2023.

Yendi, Tamale, Damongo, Wenchi, Sunyani, Keta and Sekondi-Takoradi are some of the towns and cities where the eight water supply projects are ongoing.

Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, announced this in Accra on Monday when she updated the public on government’s interventions in the sector to improve access.

The 2021 Population and Housing Census stated that access to potable water is averagely pegged at 87.7 per cent nationwide, with urban areas having 96.4 per cent access and 74.4 per cent for rural areas.

Madam Dapaah said the investment in the water supply sector reflected the Government’s burning desire to improve access by every Ghanaian in line with the “Water for All Agenda” and was also committed to, at least, providing each region with one water supply system.

The Minister, however, bemoaned some negative human activities that were hindering the implementation of those interventions and noted that of the 53.2 billion cubic metres of Ghana’s natural freshwater endowment, only 14 per cent was being utilised.

She mentioned some negative human activities like illegal mining, encroachment on water supply infrastructure, stone/sand winning, farming along buffer zones of river bodies and release of effluent into water bodies as hindering the realisation of the maximum benefits of those interventions.

“The integrity of this renewable freshwater resource endowment, together with the availability of groundwater at various geological locations, is constantly being threatened by these irresponsible human activities and we must stop this evil,” the Minister said.

She underscored the need for collaborative efforts to increase the number of water monitoring stations to stop such unregulated human activities.

The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources would soon embark on house-to-house audit to deal with illegal connection by unpatriotic individuals to prevent loss of revenue by the Ghana Water Company Limited, she said.