Expedite action on Wenchi Water Project – MP tells Govt

The Member of Parliament for Wenchi, Hon Haruna Seidu has charged the government through the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources to expedite action in the construction of the Wenchi Town Water project.

According to him, a sod has been cut for the project since 2020, but work has not begun, hence the call on the government to expedite action.

Hon Haruna, a member of the Food and Agriculture Committee of Parliament was speaking to EXPRESSNEWSGHANA, in Parliament after the House approved tax waivers for the importation of goods and services for the project in Parliament last Friday.

Parliament approved a cumulative tax waiver in the sum of € 7,330,621.56 for materials for the construction of the water project in Wenchi, but Hon Haruna said, the material should be used for the purpose intended and not be misappropriated.

While urging the government to live by its promises and ensure the project is completed to supply water, the MP expressed reservation on the fact that the project site might not be suitable as the river from which water is expected to be drawn from dries up in the dry season.

Hon Haruna said the project is important because it would help mitigate the current challenges of accessing water by residents and further improve their living conditions.

He noted that Water serves competing purposes, not only for drinking and domestic purposes but for agricultural, commercial and industrial circles and is key, stressing that sustainable water is important.

However, unavailability of sufficient water all year round presents serious impacts on domestic, agriculture and attendant challenges residents, face in getting the right amount of water for consumption and others.

Water is an essential commodity with various interests of importance as the largest section of the Wenchi enclave population still lacks access to safe and clean drinking water.

This, the MP urged the government and other relevant stakeholders to double the effort and make sure the maintenance of existing water bodies and provision of water supply is improved to be able to achieve the target goal.

Currently, many communities in the rural areas of Wenchi dig deep and cough up more money to source water to meet their daily needs.

Residents relied on private water supplies in tanks and sachets, whiles other depends on rivers and streams in order to access water for domestic consumption.

In addition to the growth in population, the rural-urban migration continues to compound the problem in our cities, increasing the water demand.

Statistics available from the Ghana Water Company presents that Ghana has declined in urban and rural water supply from 76% in 2015 to 68% in 2019 due to the increasing population we are witnessing in our cities across the country.