We’re making progress in coastline, housing, water sub-sectors — Minister
The Minister of Works, Housing and Water Resources, Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, has outlined achievements made by his outfit in three core sub-sectors, aligning them with the government’s reset agenda, which is focused on equity, sustainability and transformation.
They are coastline and drainage interventions, and the housing and water sectors.
The minister was speaking during his first presentation at the Government Accountability Series in Accra yesterday.
Coastal protection
Mr Adjei said that coastal protection projects at Komenda, Ningo-Prampram and Elmina had all been completed, securing approximately 15km of coastline and protecting lives and livelihoods.
Other projects which were at various stages of completion are those in Dansoman (95 per cent), Anomabu (81 per cent), and Cape Coast Phase I (80 per cent).
With regard to the tidal wave devastation in Ketu South in the Volta Region, he confirmed that the Phase 2 Blekusu Coastal Protection Project was now 25 per cent complete after a sod-cutting ceremony by President John Dramani Mahama in August last year.
On flood control, the minister said a Presidential Task Force on Flooding was coordinating efforts to combat floods in the country, adding that about 1.76km of storm drains had been constructed.
He said there was continued dredging of the Odaw Channel under a GARID project, with over 90,000 cubic metres of sediments removed.
Furthermore, an advanced Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) for Accra was now operational, after the installation of equipment and training of agency personnel.
And in Kumasi, feasibility studies had identified short and long-term measures, including dredging and a proposed early warning system to mitigate flooding.
Housing sector
The minister said there were negotiations with some selected developers to complete the stalled Saglemi Affordable Housing project, with a shareholders’ agreement currently under review by the Office of the Attorney-General.
“The joint venture arrangement has been concluded among all parties and is expected to be formally executed in the coming weeks,” Mr Adjei added.
He also said that work on the 800-unit Kpone affordable housing project was progressing steadily, including work on an 800-unit Oxygen City Housing Project in the Volta Region, launched by President Mahama last year.
The minister further announced that 68 new housing units for public servants had been completed in Accra under a redevelopment programme, with 422 more units under construction.
For communities displaced by the Akosombo Dam spillage, he said site works had begun for some 1,010 housing units across eight locations in the North, Central and South Tongu districts.
Also, a new Greenville District Housing Programme pilot was underway in eight districts. Under the project, there would be 20 two-bedroom units per district using sustainable construction methods.
On rental housing, the National Rental Assistance Scheme (NRAS) has so far assisted 4,732 citizens with rent advances since its inception, with a 99 per cent recovery rate. Plans were underway to expand the scheme nationwide.
Water
The nation’s declining per capita water availability now stands at about 1,650 cubic metres, signifying water stress.
The minister cited illegal mining, deforestation and pollution as major contributory factors.
To address the menace, the Water Resources Commission was raising 34,000 seedlings for buffer zone restoration and also developing a water resources assessment system (WRAS) to be linked with the Minerals Commission’s platform to help regulate mining near water bodies.
Furthermore, two critical Legislative Instruments on Riparian Buffer Zones and Water Quality Control were being drafted for parliamentary consideration.
On water supply, Mr Adjei said urban water access stood at 96 per cent, while safely managed water services were available to only 44 per cent of the population.
Several urban and rural water supply projects were also progressing, including Keta (72 per cent), Wenchi (91 per cent) and Sekondi-Takoradi (89 per cent).
