President Akufo-Addo inaugurates Amedzofe water project

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has inaugurated the Amedzofe Water System, which is to serve five communities in the Ho West District in the Volta Region.

The beneficiary communities are Amedzofe, Ziope, Akpokope-Batume Junction, Matse, Dzolo Gbogame and surrounding communities.

Constructed under the Water Supply Improvement Project (WSIP) of the Ghana-Spain Debt Swap Development Programme (DSDP), the five-piped water supply system is one of four projects being undertaken in the region.

The other areas to also benefit from similar facilities are the Ho municipality and the Agortime Ziope and the Adaklu-Anyigbe districts, all at a cost of $3.78 million.

Durbar

Speaking at a durbar of the chiefs and the people at Amedzofe to inaugurate the project, President Akufo-Addo said it was a clear demonstration of the government’s commitment to fulfill the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) 2016 manifesto pledge of providing “Water For All”.

He said his government was not relenting on its promise to provide Ghanaians with potable water and improve the sanitation situation of the country.

He said the programme between Ghana and Spain was one of the interventions instituted by the government to ensure continuous provision of potable water for the rural and peri-urban populations of the country.

The programme, he explained, would see the construction of 18 piped water supply systems that would serve 69,000 people in all the beneficiary districts.

He indicated that the 13 other water systems under the project which had reached various levels of construction were expected to be completed in December 2020 for the beneficiary communities to also enjoy potable water.

More communities to benefit

Earlier, the President had cut the sod for the construction of Phase III of the Five Districts Water Supply Project at Adaklu Anfoe.

It is designed to serve five districts — North Tongu, Central Tongu, Adaklu, Ho West and Agotime Ziope — and when completed, will serve 183 communities with a population of 89,107 through 90 standpipes and many private and institutional connections.

“It is gratifying to note that this project will provide potable water for 89,107 people in 183 beneficiary communities, such as Dadoboe, Mawoekpor, Mafi Zongo, Mafi Kutime, Mafi Kumase, Avedo Bakpa, Kpoviadzi, Adidome, Kanikope, Bagalikope and Manase Zongo,” the President said as he cut the sod for the Adaklu project.

Social responsibility

He stressed the government’s commitment to live up to its social responsibility by providing social services such as the water project for the people.

He said he expected beneficiary communities to contribute their quota towards ensuring the sustainability of the services and helping to protect the infrastructure, so that it could last long.

The President disclosed that funding had been secured for the commencement of work on the Rural Communities and Small Towns Water Supply Project, otherwise known as the Aqua Africa Water Project.

That project would see the construction of 150 water point sources and 12 small-town water systems to serve some 588 communities across the Volta, Oti, Greater Accra, Ashanti and Eastern regions, he said.

“Once completed, the project will then benefit some 282,000 people,” the President added.

Adaklu traditional area

The Paramount Chief of the Adaklu Traditional Area, Togbe Gbogbi Atsa V, commended the President for the many development projects being undertaken in the area, especially town roads.

He appealed for a school bus for the Adaklu Senior High School.

Togbe Atsa further proposed the setting up of a pasture bank in Adaklu, as had been done in the Afram Plains, to help solve the problem of nomadic cattle grazing in the area.