Weija water plant to produce at capacity – Minister
Mr Collins Dauda, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, has said Accra and Tema would now receive over 50 million gallons of water a day following the completion of repair works at Weija.
The Minister made the remarks when he visited the BAMAG Treatment Plant at Weija to inspect broken down filters that had been repaired to facilitate water supply to Accra and Tema.
The visit became necessary to ascertain the progress of work done so far on the repaired filters that were damaged last year, which limited the capacity of water supply to 10 million gallons a day to both Accra and Tema.
Mr Dauda indicated that news broke out in February this year about the broken down filters and Government had to respond quickly to repair two of them to enable Accra and Tema to get access to water supply.
He said the other three were badly damaged hence needed time for special repair works to be done hence Government contracted Ballast Nedam, a construction company to fix the damages.
He said the 600,000 Euros contract when completed would enable the country to receive at least 94 million gallons of water a day.
The Minister said the four and a half months agreement with Ballast Nedam would end on July 31st this year, adding that Government had however prevailed upon the company to fast track repair works before the scheduled time.
“For the first time, all twelve filters are in operation and not only were filters fixed but six pumps were also functioning at the plant” he added.
Mr Dauda noted that a Silo had also been fixed at the cost of 160,000 Euros to store alum to ensure its presence in the system and used the opportunity to commend Ballast Nedam for the diligent work done in ensuring that Accra and Tema received water daily.
He said the ever growing population in Accra and Tema had become phenomenal hence the need to construct another treatment plant at Weija to supply 60 million gallons of water and that the Ministry was already in talks with some investors after which a feasibility study would be conducted on the new project.
The sector Minister expressed concern about encroachment around the plant, which he described as an attack on the main source of water supply and said he was working in collaboration with the National Security to clamp down on encroachers and developers in the area.
Mr Dauda urged land developers to seek permit before constructing residential facilities and appealed to the media for support when it became necessary for buildings to be demolished.
Source: GNA