Government urged to give votes for water tariffs

Wa, Oct. 23, GNA - Mrs Blandina Battir, Regional Director of Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) has appeal to the government to empower government departments, institutions and health facilities financially to pay their utility bills to salvage them from indebtedness.

Mrs Battir said the non-payment of water tariffs by security agencies, schools and health facilities in the communities was posing a financial threat to the sustainability of CWSA especially. "These security agencies, schools and health facilities in the Upper West alone owe over 50 million cedis thereby stifling the development of CWSA in the communities".

Mrs Battir told the Ghana News Agency at Wa on Thursday that although the community water project was to assist people to get access to potable water, the non-payment of tariffs could collapse the system, as it was not making profit.

Mrs Battir said nine towns would receive small town water systems under the World Bank assistance while nine others would also be rehabilitated and expanded to meet the growing population of the towns. The Regional Director said Ullo-Dantie, Piina, Babile, Nadowli, Kaleo, Sakai, Funsi, Nator, Daffiama, Jirapa, Lambussie, Hamile/Happa, Nandom, Lawra, Gwollu and Tumu would have their systems rehabilitated and expanded.

Mrs Battir said CWSA, under the International Development Association (IDA) Community Water sub-project II, has drilled 366 boreholes at a total cost of 15.3 billion cedis.

Under the project, 1,232 boreholes have already been installed for use while 62 more would be drilled before the close of the year. She said the first phase would provide a total of 428 boreholes to serve 365 communities with a total population of 224,542.

She appealed to District Assemblies and communities to pay their share of the counterpart funding promptly to facilitate the execution of the projects.