Government has provided an 11 million-dollar water supply system for three districts in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region in line with meeting government’s Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy and Millennium Development Goals. The water supply projects, which would serve the needs of 108 communities with a population of 120,000 was co-funded by the Danish International Development Agency and the British Department for International Development. The project consists of an intake structure, treatment plant, pump house, clear water well, reservoirs and transmission and distribution networks. Sheikh Ibrahim C. Quaye, Greater Accra Regional Minister, who commissioned the project, said government wanted to find lasting solutions to the water problems in the area and therefore commissioned feasibility studies in 2002 under the small towns water scheme for surface water. “This project brings to an end the suffering of our people who have suffered the severe lack of potable water over the years,” he said. Sheikh Quaye noted that government was committed to reducing poverty and improving the health and living conditions of people through the provision of water and sanitation facilities especially in the rural communities. He urged all households to take advantage of the project, “construct appropriate household places of convenience and avoid poor environmental practices which will take away the benefits of safe water supply”. Dr Philips Gyau-Boakye, Chief Executive Officer, Community Water and Sanitation Agency, said it was the single largest rural water supply project facilitated by the agency since 1998. He said it was conceived out of the difficult hydro-geological conditions in the Accra Plains. Dr. Gyau-Boakye noted that to ensure sustainability, the project would be under the management of the Water and Sanitation Development Board through a private operator and urged beneficiaries to take good care of the system. Mr. Minta Aboagye, Director Water Resources, Ministry of Water Resources Works and Housing, urged the communities to pay service charges on time. Mr. Lars Moller Larsen, Counsellor, Royal Danish Embassy, said water and sanitation underpinned other targets of the MDGs adding, “improved access to safe water supply can also increase economic well-being at the households level”. “The ultimate goal of our joint efforts here is to enable poor people to lead healthier lives through improved management of water resources,” he said. Source: GNA