Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on Monday inaugurated a water project at Tuna in the Savannah Region.
It was constructed by Ward Development West Africa under the company’s safe, sustainable and innovative water services christened Numa Water Services, aimed at complementing efforts of the government at providing safe and potable water for all.
The company has expended a total of US$1.1 million on water projects in the Upper West and Savannah Regions this year alone, including the Tuna Project which was commissioned.
With the involvement of the private sector in the provision of water services, the Vice President said this would ensure sustainability of the projects given the economic component they usually introduced into their interventions.
Dr Bawumia stated that Ghana was looking forward to providing and expanding access to potable water in order to meet goal six of the Sustainable Development Goals on ‘clean water and sanitation for all’.
In this regard, the Vice President said the government had invested over US$740 million in water systems in various towns and communities across the country, including the provision of small town water systems and boreholes.
“Over the last five years, there has been a remarkable increase in access to water; the 2021 population and housing census enumerated that overall access to potable water and easy access to water was rated at 87 per cent with urban areas recording 96 per cent and 74 per cent for rural areas”, he said.
He indicated that because the country was aiming for a 100 per cent improvement in water services, the government was excited about initiatives such as the Numa Water Services, and said it would help meet the water needs of Ghanaians.
“The improvement in water and sanitation has been outstanding with no cases of cholera recorded in the last five years; so we welcome such initiatives because government is not the only player, the private can equally provide very quality services to Ghanaians,” he said.
The Vice President who was accompanied by the Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, and other government functionaries used the opportunity to assure the chiefs and people of Tuna and the entire region that the government was working to extend electricity to 52 communities in the area.
Mr Ahmed Yekini, Upper West and Savannah Regional Director of 4Ward West Africa said not only was the company providing potable water to Ghanaians, they were also creating jobs for residents in beneficiary regions, adding that over 200 people now worked as vendors, technicians and marketers.
“Our target is to reach a total of 100,000 clients in the next four years and we are on course as we have already covered 25,000 clients in ten communities this year alone,” he said.
FROM RAFIA ABDUL RAZAK, TUNA
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