Managing Director of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Ing Dr Clifford Braimah has expressed the company’s intent to improve water supplies to industries.
According to him, the project is currently at the feasibility stage and will draw water from around Aveyime to feed the industries.
To achieve this, he revealed that his outfit has taken steps to dedicate a production centre to these commercial customers.
Speaking at a stakeholders meeting with industries in Tema, Ing Clifford Braimah, explained that the company is in discussion with the Danish embassy on the project.
Also, he explained that they are “waiting on the Minister for Finance to write to the leader group (Danish sustainable infrastructure fund)… then we kick start the feasibility”.
“We’ve already had discussion with the Danish embassy. We floated three projects [and] they settled on this one. We have had a discussion with our sector minister [and] written to her on that.
“That’s why we, on our own, have started the feasibility… because knowing the demand of the company, is part of the feasibility”.
Touching on the halt in the Kpong Water expansion project, he noted that the suspension was due to insufficient funding.
“These are different funding agencies. So, the Kpong halt is as a result of funding. Somebody is processing it and as I mentioned, it’s an EXIM facility; state-to-state and diplomatic issues involved. So, you’ll not be able to just cut it because you feel there’s a problem. The countries will have to talk to themselves for them to know how dire we are as far as water supply is concerned. Then, when we are able to reach there we can either terminate or get a new person or somebody else to come and do it. But for this one, it’s a separate arrangement”.
Short water supply to industries
Stakeholders were given the opportunity to register their displeasure on services rendered by the water company.
Finance Manager at Olam Ghana, Abraham Oppong, expressed his dissatisfaction about sporadic shortage of water in the Kpone enclave.
“We get water shortages without announcements. Sometimes even the planned maintenance they want to do, it takes more than the usual time that they give. These are the major concerns that we have and we have to rely on water tankers. In the month of April this year alone, we spent over GHC60, 000 on water tanker alone; which is more than double our monthly payment that we do for Ghana Water”.
Tema oil refinery, Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority and Southern water among others were present.
Water supply interruption
In April this year, the Ghana Water Company Limited interrupted water supply to parts of the Greater Accra Region. In a statement, the company revealed that the interruption was to allow for the replacement of a damaged transmission pipeline between Kpong and Tema.
“The Management of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), wishes to inform the general public, that there will be an interruption of water supply to the eastern part of the Greater Accra Region from Thursday the 22nd to Monday the 26th of April 2021.
“GWCL engineers will be replacing two hundred meters (200m) of a weak session of the main 42-inch transmission pipeline from Kpong to Tema, around Gbetsele junction, which is causing GWCL to lose several volumes of water daily and consequently having a serious impact on the volumes available for consumption”.
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