Edumadze meets the press

The Central Regional Minister, Mr Isaac Edumadze on Tuesday outlined measures adopted by the regional administration and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to curb the periodic water crisis in the region.

The measures include, the creation of a well field near Cape Coast possibly at Jukwa or Abakrampa for the construction of five mechanized boreholes and a reservoir. Others are the dredging of the Brim Dam to increase its storage capacity of water and raise the height of the dam to increase the storage of water.

Mr Edumadze was addressing the third in the series of media encounter with Ministers of State dubbed "Meet the Press" in Accra. The Minister said the region would also develop an alternative source of raw water on river Pra in the Western region, to be used either to pump water to the Brimsu dam for treatment or treated at the site and pumped directly to Cape Coast.

In case of any shortage, the regional administration and GWCL will ensure adequate budgetary provision for tanker services to reduce the burden on residents. Mr Edumadze said plans are advanced for a new water treatment plant at Baifikrom to serve Mankessim, Saltpong and its environs, while an estimated 1.5 billion cedis had been voted for the extension of water supply to the Cassava Starch Processing Factory site at Awutu Bawjiase under the President's Special Initiative (PSI).

On the social impact of the Community Water and Sanitation in the region, Mr Edumadze said investment in the sector in 2000 resulted in the provision of 1,311 bore holes in 800 communities serving over 400,000 people.

He said efforts are being made to link five rural communities to quality water systems, to reduce Guinea Worm infection. The Minister also said the European Union Investment Fund is supporting 45 small towns in the Central and Western regions with 15,000,000 Euro for the provision of large-scale water supply schemes.

Mr Edumadze also highlighted on the tourism potential of the region and said, the region had mapped out Eco-Tourism sites for development as well as the transformation of the Elmina Cultural Heritage Project into a major Tourist centre.