Tamale To Face Another Water Crisis By 2015

An estimated 500,000 people in five Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Northern Region of Ghana, could soon experience erratic supply of potable water to their homes by 2015 due to the inability of the water Treatment Plant at the Dalun Headworks to work beyond its optimum level.

According to Assistant Communications Officer of Ghana Water Company Limited, Nii-Abbey Nicholas, the optimization of the plant capacity at the Dalun Headworks would be due in 2015. 

He said that the last expansion and rehabilitation works at the Dalun Headworks by Messer’s Biwater BV in 2008, were expected to reach their final optimization by 2015 and thus would not be able to pump beyond the required capacity from Nawuni or White Volta River for treatment and consumption by the populace.

The GWCL supply water from its production site at Dalun to almost half-a-million people spread across the Tamale Metropolis, Savelugu-Nanton Municipality, Sagnarigu, Tolon and Kumbungu Districts, with its larger clientele being residents of Tamale.

Currently, the GWCL daily production is about 7 million gallons or 39,000 cubic meters. Even though this figure was expected to increase due to population rise, Nii-Abbey dreaded the 7 million gallons daily production could become insufficient if another water expansion project that was expected to have been under construction by now to increase production levels was further delayed.

He explained that “water supply systems are capital intensive citing for instance the cost of developing a new supply is usually too large to be met from the income received from current consumers, so the money for it has to be borrowed.” Adding, he also said “Reservoirs, dams, treatment works and bulk supply mains, have to be size large enough to cater for future rising water demand. Hence, it is reasonable to borrow money for such works and repay it gradually from rising sales of water.”

Explaining further, Nii-Abbey stressed that “raising the necessary capital is one of the key problems facing governments. If Ghana was rich enough, the government would lend money from its own funds”, he opined. He however added that, “alternatively a water undertaking may be permitted to borrow money directly from the ‘money market’ citing for instance from commercial sources of money; but the amounts so borrowed may have to be controlled to ensure the total ‘public sector borrowing’ does not exceed the government’s need to maintain its own financial stability in the water sector.”   

The acute water shortages and erratic supply that the people of Tamale and its surrounding environs experienced some few years ago, he said, was looming again and it was important for a new project that was still at deliberation stages at governmental level to begin. 

Speaking at a day’s forum in Tamale organized by the Gub-Katimali Society, a non-governmental organization, he appealed to the public to endeavour to honour their responsibilities in the payment of water bills so as to enable the GWCL also honour its obligation through quality and reliable water supply.

The forum was organized as part of the implementation of a three-year project dubbed ““Promoting an Inclusive and Empowered Civil Society to advance Socio-Economic and Political Development in Ghana.”

The forum which brought together civil society organizations, assembly officials, persons with disabilities, persons with mental illness and epilepsy, the media among others, was aimed at soliciting support from key government institutions and departments such as the GWCL and Ghana Health Service in the Tamale Metropolitan and Sagnarigu District Assemblies for the various vulnerable groups in their respective jurisdictions and encourage them to take into consideration the concerns of these groups when drafting their policies and programmes.

Nii-Abbey Nicholas

According to Nii-Abbey, plans were far advanced for the government to build a new conventional Water Treatment Plant on the White Volta River at Yapei in the Central Gonja District in order to supply potable water to inhabitants in that area and its environs.

Yendi, Salaga, Buipe and Damongo Water Supply Rehabilitation and Expansion Projects, he noted, were other plans on government’s drawing board awaiting implementation in the near future.

He also disclosed that the GWCL total debt ratio incurred by private individuals and the government as at May 31, 2011 in Dalun, Yendi and Tamale had amounted to more than GH¢1,000,000.

Meanwhile, the three-year projected by Gub-Katimali Society which begun in 2012 aimed at building an inclusive and empowered civil society well aware of their needs and rights, including existing and contemplated public policies and programmes and increase their debate as well as lobby and advocate in their favour.

It also intended to contribute to increasing awareness and capacities of Community Based Organizations of men and women with mental illness or epilepsy, PWDs, women, youth and farmer groups to influence policy planning and implementation.