Koforidua, Oct. 8, GNA - By the end of 2013 all residents of cocoa growing areas in the country will get portable drinking water from Solar Water Machines, Mr Clement T. Bugase, the Chief Executive Officer of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) has disclosed. Speaking with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Koforidua on Friday, he said, through the collaborative efforts of government and the Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB), 3,000 Solar Water Pumping Machines were being constructed in cocoa growing communities.

"At the moment, we are constructing 1,000 of these machines this year= ," and added that in 2012 another 1,000 and in 2013 the final 1,000 would be built. Mr Bugase said the government was providing the funds for the drilling of the boreholes whereas the CMB was providing the funds for the acquisitio= n of the machines, the poly tanks and the standing pipes. He said cocoa famers were life-wires of the country's economy and th= at it was expedient they were provided with basic necessities so as to make life more comfortable for them.

Mr Bugase said the solar water pumping machines would save the people the stress of exerting much energy in fetching water. "As you can see, the children, the old men and women do not need to go and exert much energy to pump for water to flow, they only need to rely on the sun to do that for them" he said. Mr. Bugase said the CWSA was there as an agency to ensure that rural areas throughout the country received good and safe drinking water through the provision of boreholes, small towns' water systems and other mechaniz= ed water systems.

"We are there to also provide other sanitations projects such as building sanitized places of convenience and we also provide sanitation tip= s to rural communities to ensure their healthy living".

"We do all these by sourcing funds from international institutions through the government of Ghana" he added.