Cape Coast, Elmina water projects to be completed in 2016

The perennial water shortages in Cape Coast and Elmina in the Central Region are expected to end by next year.

This will be made possible when the 20 million Euros water project being funded by The Netherlands government under its Ghana Netherlands WASH Programme (GNWP) is completed in 2016.

The project, which started in January, this year, is expected to provide water to about 400,000 people when completed.

The First Secretary, Water and Climate on the GNWP at the Dutch Embassy in Accra, Mr Fred Smiet, made this known at the Ghana Country Platform at the Amsterdam International Water Week in the Netherlands.

The contractor, Denys, is among others, installing 30-km transmission pipes, ground reservoir, pumps and other reinforcement distribution networks for communities in Cape Coast and Elmina.

The Cape Coast water project, according to Mr Smiet, is being  funded by the Dutch government as part of its efforts to help the country improve on water, sanitation and hygiene.

Other projects
The Cape Coast water project is part of 20 other WASH projects being jointly undertaken by Ghana and The Netherlands.

According to Mr Smiet, all the projects under the GNWP which sought to promote improved water, sanitation, and hygiene in Ghana were on course.

The projects are being executed at a cost of €100 million.

Mr Smiet told participants, including Ghanaian and foreign investors in WASH, that there were currently 11 public private partnership (PPP) projects ongoing under the GNWP.

He, however, stated that the WASH in schools project, which had 100 schools participating, had been completed.

The GNWP
The GNWP is a joint project between the governments of Ghana and The Netherlands in the water, sanitation, and hygiene sector. It focuses on integrated urban water and sanitation and has an indicative budget of €200 million which includes contributions from The Netherlands, Ghana government and private sector.

Implementation started last year and it is expected that water, sanitation and hygiene delivery would have seen marked improvements at the end of the project in 2020 through the provision of infrastructure, behavioural change and capacity building.

Ghanaian and Dutch private companies have developed business models to deliver drinking water and to improve sanitation by turning waste into profitable products such as compost and biogas.

The projects
The UNICEF Urban Sanitation project is being executed at a cost of €6 million over a period of four years in Ashaiman, Ho and Tamale. It tackles areas such as Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), Sanitation Marketing, WASH in schools, and the development of Urban Sanitation Model.

Mr Smiet also gave an insight into the Living Water from the Mountain: Protecting the Atewa Forest project in the Eastern Region, being implemented by IUCN of The Netherlands and A Rocha at a cost of €1.5 million over a three-year period. The project seeks to protect the Atewa Forest Reserve and the Densu River to ensure sustainable water supply for some three million people in western Accra.

About 2600 SMEs and 850 households have been targeted to benefit from appropriate financing through the P2P project being implemented by SNV and Fidelity Bank, Ghana, at a cost of € 6 million over a five-year period.

The P2P seeks to promote improved sustainability and viability of WASH service delivery by SMEs.