SHC, GWSC Put On The Carpet

Adenta (GAR), - Mr. Isaac Adjei-Mensah, Minister of Works and Housing, today ordered two departments under his ministry to ensure that residents at Adenta Housing Estate are supplied with water as soon as possible. They are the Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation (GWSC) and State Housing Corporation (SHC). Mr. Adjei-Mensah gave the order during a familiarization visit to the estate. He was accompanied by Alhaji Amadu Seidu, Deputy Minister (Water and Hydrology), Mr. Alex Akuffo, Deputy Minister (Works and Housing), and Nii Boi Ayibotele, Acting Managing Director, GWSC. Mr. George Nai, Chief Technical Adviser, Water and Hydrology, and Mr A.B. Ampratwum, Acting Managing Director, SHC Limited, were also with the minister. Mr. Adjei-Mensah said to ensure smooth and regular water supply to the estates, the SHC will bear 40 per cent of the cost of the project estimated at 2.4 billion cedis while the GWSC will foot the remaining 60 per cent. He said, last year, the ministry spent 1.4 billion cedis to desilt drains in Accra, adding that, as a result, certain parts of the capital like Madina and Caprice which were flooded have not rpt not experienced floods this year. When the minister asked Nii Boi Ayibotele when water would flow to the area, he replied: "It is difficult, but if funds are available, it will take four months to supply water to the estates". Mr. Adjei-Mensah was not happy with the state of roads and lack of drainage system at the estate. He said, henceforth, all new developers should ensure that basic amenities such as water, electricity, roads and drainage systems are incorporated in their schemes before work starts. Mr. Akuffo told the developers to see the ministry as a coordinating body and advised them to furnish it with all necessary information on their projects. Such information, he said, will be handed over to the implementing agencies such as the Electricity Corporation which will work on the housing project. The minister and his team also inspected the drainage systems at Madina, the Odaw river at Caprice and Obetsebi-Lamptey circle.