Water related diseases in Afram Plain being addressed

Accra, May 23, GNA - Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, on Wednesday told Parliament that the Afram Plains District Assembly has been collaborating with the University of Ghana Medical School on the current bilharzia situation and other water related problems facing communities in the area. He said information received through some preliminary studies indicated that these communities depended on the Afram River, which was polluted because of the human activities along it.

The Minister was answering a question on steps being taken to provide potable water to people living along the River that were suffering from bilharzia and typhoid. He said initial solution to the problem was focusing on treatment as well as health and hygiene education, being initiated by the District Assembly.

"Mr Speaker, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) has also been implementing a five year District Based Water and Sanitation Programme in the Region with Afram Plains as one of the participating districts."

On the supply of water, the Minister said borehole drilling activities carried out in some of these communities were unsuccessful in view of the difficulty of finding water in the geological formations along the River.

In response to another question, Mr Owusu-Agyemang said Goka in the Jaman North Constituency of the Brong Ahafo Region was to benefit from an IDA Small Town Water Supply Project under a 10 million dollars facility being sourced from the World Bank.

"It is expected that the additional funding would be available by September 2007 to enable the CWSA and the Jaman North District Assembly to initiate the process for the construction of water supply to be completed by April 2008."

The Minister was responding to a question on when work would begin on the Small Town Water System for Goka and Asiri in the Brong Ahafo Region.

He said Asiri was to be considered under the Agence Francaise de Development funded Rural and Peri-Urban Water and Sanitation Project in the Region.