Central Region nears 78% potable water coverage – Gov’t

Supply of potable water in the Central Region is expected to hit 78 per cent average by December 2016, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing has said.

The Abrem Agona Water Project in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality, when completed, would solve the perennial water shortage faced by residents in some parts of the region.

The current regional water coverage stands at 68 per cent.

The Minister made this known when he paid a working visit to the Brimsu Water Dam and the Abrem Agona Water Project currently under construction to assess progress of work on the project.

The project, which is expected to benefit more than 400,000 people in the Cape Coast Metropolis and its surrounding communities, would primarily inter-connect the two water systems at Sekyere Hemang and Brimsu.

About 3.1 million gallons of treated water from Sekyere Hemang would be supplied to the two water wells at Abrem Agona and subsequently made available to areas with supply from the Brimsu head works.

Works on the water supply project, which is being undertaken with support from  the Netherlands Government under its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme, was likely be completed ahead of schedule in December.

Interacting with the media after his visit, Dr Agyemang-Mensah said water supply for the Cape Coast Metropolis and the neighbouring KEEA Municipality improved after completion of the 6.6 million gallons daily capacity water treatment plant at Sekyere Hemang.

He, however, said during the dry season when the level of water in the Brimsu Dam was low, Cape Coast and its neighbouring communities experienced acute water shortage.

He said the Government was committed to investing in water infrastructure to ensure access to potable water for all Ghanaians by 2025 through some interventions put in place.

Dr Agyemang-Mensah also visited the Kwamoano/Amarkrom and Nyinabontoa water supply system, a sustainable rural water and sanitation project, which was commissioned last year with a nine-member management team.

Aside the water supply system, government has also constructed 18 boreholes in 18 communities in the Hemang Lower Denkyira District in a bid to address the water problems there.

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