A group calling itself the Concerned Ghanaians Association is calling on the government to commence an investigation into the award of contract for the construction of the Desalination Plant in Teshie.

The $125m desalination plant was constructed in 2015 to desalinate 60,000m3 of seawater a day providing fresh water to more than 300,000 people in various municipalities of the Greater Accra Region.

The plant was being operated by Befesa Desalination Developments Ghana, a joint venture of Abengoa Water Investments Ghana, Daye Water Investment (Ghana), and local partner Hydrocol.

However, the government through the Ghana Water Company shut down the Teshie desalination plant in January to allow for the renegotiation of the contract.

The group in a statement commended the government for suspending contract signed between Ghana Water and Messrs Befesssa Ghana Limited since the country was losing an amount of $1.5million every month.

“Government must take a critical look at how much the company lost as a result of the deal because when Befessa was selling water to GWCL in bulk at $1.50, an equivalent of GHc6.75 per cubic meter, which they, in turn, were compelled to sell to the public at GHc1.47 per cubic meter,” it said in a statement.

 

Below is the full statement:

 

CONCERNED GHANAIANS  COMMEND GOVERNMENT FOR SHUTTING DESALINATION PLANT

The Concerned Ghanaians Association wishes to express our sincere gratitude to the government for the bold step it has taken to shut down the desalination plant for the people of Teshie to start enjoying potable water.

As opinion leaders in the community, our ears never went to sleep ever since the commissioning of the Desalination Plant, with constant complaints of health disorders affecting the various localities in our community, for which we deemed appropriate to let the government and people of Ghana know what we were going through on daily basis.

We have always maintained that given the quantum of fresh water sources we have in Ghana, the decision to embark on the desalination technology could be best described as myopic and corporate wickedness.

The proponents of the desalination technology did not care of the consequences on the people of Teshie. Concern Ghanaians, therefore, is of the view that their only consideration was what they stood to benefit from the project.

Now that the plant has been shut down we wish to urge the government to as a matter of urgency commission an investigation on both present and past officials of the company who gave the green light for the project.

The government of Ghana was losing an amount of $1.5million every month as a result of the contract between Ghana water and Messrs Befesssa Ghana limited.

The government must take a critical look at how much the company lost as a result of the deal because when Befessa was selling water to GWCL in bulk at $1.50, an equivalent of GHc6.75 per cubic meter, which they, in turn, were compelled to sell to the public at GHc1.47 per cubic meter.

We are informed that GWCL is under obligation to pay some GHc11.6 million as a capacity charge under the contract.

The scale of reaction to the deal shows that the concerns of Ghanaians are reaching a boiling point.

The president who happens to be an anti-corruption crusader must reciprocate the goodwill he is enjoying from Ghanaians who generally gave him the mandate in 2016 based on the change mantra by thoroughly investigating the desalination deal.

Seth Tagoe

(Convenor)