Cocoa communities to get solar water pumping machines

Koforidua, Sept. 28, GNA – Mr Clement T. Bugase has said by the end of 2013, all cocoa growing communities in the country would be provided with solar water pumping machines.

Mr Bugase who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), said this in an interview with the GNA in Koforidua.

He said through the collaborative effort of the Government and the Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB), 3,000 solar water pumping machines were being constructed for the communities.

He said “at the moment, we are constructing 1,000 of these machines this year, in 2012 and 2013, we will construct another 1,000 respectively.”

Mr Bugase said the government was providing the funds for the drilling of the

boreholes whereas the CMB was also providing the funds for the acquisition of the machines, the poly tanks and the standing pipes.

He said the solar water pumping machines would save the people in the communities from going long distances to look for water adding that with this system “the children, the old men and women would not need to exert energy to pump water, they only need to rely on the sun to do that for them”.

Mr Bugase said the CWSA would ensure that rural areas throughout the country received good and safe drinking water through the provision of boreholes and other mechanized water systems.

He said “we also provide other sanitation projects like building sanitized places of convenience and providing sanitation tips to rural communities to ensure healthy living”.