Ghana Water Company says low funding hampering expansion, repair works
Although the Ghana Water Company needs an amount of $2 billion annually to undertake repair works as well as improve water supply, a scanty amount is allocated for such works.
Mr Francis Agyei-Boateng, Western Regional Manager in charge of Water Distribution, said, for instance, that the company was allocated only GH¢35 million last year which greatly hampered expansion and repair works on existing pipe facilities.
He said it was imperative that much investment was made in the water sector in order to improve infrastructure.
Mr Agyei-Boateng was speaking at a two-day Regional Forum organized by the “SOURCE” project for stakeholders in the water sector.
The SOURCE project, which aims at strengthening organisational units on water and sanitation governance in rural and coastal Ghana, is an European Union Funded project.
The project is also to upgrade the efficiency in water service delivery, building a sustainable and equitable management of water and sanitation services.
Ms Elena Gennu, Expatriate Coordinator on the project, said community participation in the process was crucial in achieving sustainable water and sanitation, particularly that of women and children.
She said after a pilot project in 2011 the SOURCE was currently operational in the Nzema East Municipality and Jomoro District.
The Expatriate Coordinator added the pilot project discovered water and sanitation governance, maintenance of infrastructure and water quality testing as some of the challenges facing both rural and urban water supply.
Ms Gennu said: “The SOURCE project aims to address challenges facing both rural and urban water supply and contribute to the improvement of basic facilities.
The focus is, therefore, to develop and strengthen management and technical abilities of water to develop and strengthen management and technical abilities of water and sanitation systems,” she added.
Ms Gennu said the key objective was to adopt principles on water management and institute coordination mechanisms between various stakeholders.
The Small Town and Rural Water Management Regional Forum was intended to be an opportunity to share information and experiences among several actors in the Water and Sanitation Industry as well as show the achievement of the SOURCE in preventing water related diseases.
Meanwhile participants have advocated that people who manned such wells and boreholes were supported financially in order to make them be committed to their work.
Source: GNA