$35 million Cape Coast water project stalls over demands by traditional authorities

Work on the $35 million Cape Coast Water Project has stalled.

This is because custodians of a sacred groove near Sekyere Heman where the transmission lines are to be laid to the Brimsu Water Treatment site are demanding a GH¢15,000 compensation before they will allow the project to continue.

The Dutch/Ghanaian funded project seeks to mitigate the perennial water shortage in and around Cape Coast and Elmina.

No single pipeline has been laid for three weeks, raising fears of a delay in the execution of the project.

Meeting
The Central Regional Minister, Mr Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, disclosed this at the Central Regional Co-ordinating Council meeting in Cape Coast on Wednesday to discuss crucial socio-economic issues affecting the development of the region and its people.

He said the project included the construction of pipelines, pump stations and reservoirs to strengthen the distribution network.

Mr Quansah added that the custodians refused the GH¢5000 offered by the Central Regional Co-ordinating Council as compensation.

“We are still negotiating, but this is delaying the project,” he indicated.

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President Mahama cut the sod for the project in January this year and is expected to be completed in December 2016.
Collaboration

Mr Quansah said there should be effective collaboration between traditional authorities and the government to facilitate development activities in the area.

“I want the chiefs to understand that development is for all of us and that the gods will even be pleased that they can get clean water.”

Water Coverage
Mr Quansah said rural water coverage in the region stood at 64.09 per cent, leaving a gap of 11.91 per cent.

He was, however, optimistic that the completion of the Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Project, which is currently being executed alongside other water and sanitation projects within the region, would cover some significant percentage of the gap and bring the regional rural water coverage close to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) target by the end of this year.