Updated on February 01 2018
Story by Radio Ghana's Isaac Asare
Government has secured funding for the long
awaited Supplementary Tono water project.
The 42 million dollar project partly
financed by the ING Bank of Belgium with grant element from Orios of the Dutch government,
is expected to start in earnest.
The Minister of Sanitation and Water
Resources, Mr Kofi Addah announced this during a tour of the Tono irrigation
dam site accompanied by Board of Directors of the Ghana Water Company Limited.
Mr Addah told Radio Ghana that the execution of the project which will take 2-3
years to complete, will develop a water treatment plant that will extend
pipelines from Tono through to Bolgatanga, Bongo and Paga.
He said its
completion will help address the perennial water shortages in the region, while
providing support for dry season farming.
Background
The
Vea and Tono irrigation dams functions as the major sources of drinking water
for residents of the Upper East Region.
The two facilities are practically
being managed by the Irrigation Company of the Upper Region, ICOUR, and had for
the past years, served its purpose in addition to the irrigation component.
All
along, the Tono Irrigation project which was initially developed for the
abstraction of water for production and domestic use, had helped to improve the
livelihood of most farmers through the production of food crops and vegetables
such as rice, tomato and pepper.
Moreover, recent rehabilitation works on the
impounded dam project has led to increased water supply in the Navrongo
Township and beyond.
On the other hand, the Vea dam which supplies water to
Bolgatanga and its environs through the Ghana Water Company, GWCL, has outlived
its usefulness. Currently, the facility operates as low as 4000 cubic meters of
water capacity as against the expected daily demand of 7,400 cubic meters.
It is
for this and other reasons that the supplementary Tono Water Project is coming
on stream to partially fulfil the total demand of water supply.
However, the
visit by the Sector Minister, Mr Kofi Addah and board members of the GWCL was
to inspect the project site to pave way for its official take off.
Mr Addah who
gave an overview of the project said the project has been on drawing board of
government for years.
Now that adequate funding had been sourced for its
execution, the ministry is working on modalities to ensure its commencement.
As
it stand, parts of the region are undergoing water rationing as a result of
population increase, particularly Bolgatanga, where there has been a
significant increase in the capacity of water delivery.
Speaking to Radio Ghana,
the Managing Director of the GWCL, Ing. Dr Clifford Braimah explained that current
demand for water far outstrip supply, however the completion of the project
will cater for areas that are badly hit by the shortfall.
Ing. Dr Clifford
Braimah also gave the assurance that his office will partner appropriate
agencies to create a buffer to avoid siltation and other illegalities that may poses
a threat to its survival.
For his part, the Board Chairman of the GWCL, Afenyo
Markin commended the sector minister for the intervention, which he noted forms
part of government’s long term vision of ensuring equal and accessible water
for all.
Earlier, the sector Minister and his team met with the Acting Manager
of ICOUR, Sabastian Bagina to acquaint themselves with the operations of the
company. Among them was the Paramount Chief of the Sakote Traditional Area,
Naba Sigri Bewong.
They also paid courtesy call on the regent of the Navrongo
Traditional Area at his palace.
The successful completion of the supplementary
Tono water project is expected to produce not less than 30,000 cubic meters of
water a day, which works to about 10 million cubic meters a year.
GBC END
