WATER, SANITATION PROJECTS FOR 54 DISTRICTS (BACK PAGE, DEC 9, 2010)

A project to expand water and sanitation services to 600,000 people in 54 districts in six regions has been launched at Nanton-Zuo in Tamale.
The project also entails the construction of institutional latrines in beneficiary communities.
The beneficiary regions are Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Brong Ahafo, Central and Western.
The five-year project is being funded by the International Development Agency (IDA) of the World Bank with a US$75 million facility, with the Government of Ghana providing US$2.34 million.
The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Alban Bagbin, said the project, which will ensure sustainability of water facilities and services, would further contribute to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target in water supply and sanitation by 2015.
He expressed appreciation for the sanitation component of the project, since it would help in reducing communicable diseases and improve the health condition of the people.
Mr Bagbin expressed the appreciation of the people and the government to the World Bank and its Country Director, Mr Ishac Diwan, for their tremendous assistance.
The Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Mr Sam Nasamu Asabigi, expressed concern over the low access to ground water and the incidence of high fluoride and its resultant inadequate water supply in some parts of the region and appealed to major stakeholders to help come up with a solution.
The acting Chief Executive Officer of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, Mr Clement Bugase, disclosed that 1,200 boreholes, 40 limited mechanised water systems and 29 full-scale mechanised water supply systems would be constructed.
He said the project would also rehabilitate 13 non-optimal performing small town water supply systems in the Northern Region, while 400 broken boreholes in all beneficiary communities would also be rehabilitated.
A representative of the World Bank, Mr Vanture Bengonechea, expressed the hope that the project would support the government in addressing the water and sanitation needs of the people, particularly in rural communities.