Weija, Kpong water works to undergo expansion

21/10/2010

Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
THE production capacities of the Weija and Kpong Water Works are to be expanded under a Ghana-China water project to improve the water situation in Accra.
The expansion work, expected to begin by the end of the year, would reduce the water supply deficit which currently stands at 70 million gallons a day in Accra.
With a demand of 150 million gallons a day, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) is only able to supply 80 million gallons a day, leaving the huge deficit which the government intends to address.
Outlining efforts at improving the water situation in the national capital in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra on Tuesday, the Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Louisa Hanna Bissiw, said the capacity of the Weija and Kpong Water works would be expanded substantially under the project.
Besides, she said, the government would expand the capacity of water works in the regions, including Kumasi, Sekondi/Takoradi and Wa.
Dr Bissiw said the government would also rehabilitate pipelines in various parts of the country and enter into water purchase agreement with some companies for them to set up water treatment plants at specific places.
The companies would treat water and sell it to the GWCL, Dr Bissiw said, adding that there was a plan to pump water from Kasoa to Accra West.
Dr Bissiw condemned the pumping of water from hydrants and main pipelines by water tanker operators, saying that disturbed the flow of water to other residents.
She also identified revenue collection as being fraught with problems, noting that the GWCL realised only 46 per cent of the amount of water supplied because of illegal connection with the connivance of some officials of the GWCL.
Dr Bissiw said the punitive regime for illegal connection was not deterrent enough, stressing that to discourage the illegal connection of water, a compulsory six-month jail term should be imposed on anyone found engaged in illegal connection.