Water crisis deter investors

... TO NORTHERN GHANA

Last year the government introduced tax relieves as a mechanism to woo potential investors to the northern part of Ghana and other rural communities.

Many saw this as a good policy direction in a bid to reduce poverty and rural-urban drift which is releasing enormous demand on the few public facilities in the urban areas.

However many economic think tanks and other development planners think otherwise. Their view is that without the adequate basic infrastructure such as road network, water, electricity, schools and health centres, it would be unthinkable for a business person to invest in the rural communities.

One of these basic infrastructure that has impeded development and for that matter investment drive to the north of Ghana is water, most especially Tamale, the largest region of the country with about 23% of the total land area yet could not boast of a single productive company that give employment to the people of the area.

The continuous raging situation of poverty, unemployment and diseases is unfortunately due to the lack good infrastructure in the provision of water in the municipality over the years.

Some multi-national companies such as Coca Cola Bottling Company, Schweppes and aluminum companies have all attempted but had to withdraw because they would not get the assurance of the government and other development partners of the quantity of water that would be needed to carryout their production activities.

It is estimated that Coca Cola, needed a total of 12 million gallons of water to execute its activities but that is not to be met since the region?s water source could only produce 4.2 million gallons of water to the entire region.

According to an economic think tank, Nii Moi Thompson, contributing to GTV? current affairs programme, Talking Pont last Sunday on the president?s state of the nation address delivered to parliament last week, observed that until all the needed infrastructures are adequately addressed, the economic prospects of the country would continue to be dream not a reality

According to the Ghana Water Company Limited, at a public forum in Tamale recently, the rehabilitation project being undertaken by government would add only an additional 6 million gallons, which, as a matter of fact, would not meet the consumption demand either.