Parliament has approved the Credit Facility Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Export-Import Bank of India for an amount of Thirty Million United States Dollars (US$30,000,000.00) for the Rehabilitation and Upgrading of Potable Water Systems in Yendi.
The aim of the project is to rehabilitate and upgrade the Yendi Water Supply System in order to provide potable water for the people of Yendi and its environs.
According to the committee’s report on the loan facility, “The Yendi Municipality contributes significantly to the Agricultural fortunes for the country producing large activities of arable lands for crops like maize, yam, cassava and rice.
The catchment area also has an iron ore deposit which can generate economic activities like mining”.
The Chairman of the finance committee, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah noted that, the water supply system was built in 1961 and it takes its raw water from the River Daka.
“As a result of an increase in the population and economic growth in the Yendi Municipality, it has become necessary to expand the existing water supply system to meet the water demand of the beneflciary towns and communities”.
In order to address the challenge, a proposal was made to either rehabilitate the existing treatment plant or expand the entire water supply system in order to meet the current demand and also meet the planning horizon up to the year 2030, he stressed.
Dr. Assibey- Yeboah said, “an assessment was carried out on the system by Messrs Tahal Company Limited. They recommended that major rehabilitation and expansion works should be carried out to ensure continuity of water supply to meet growing demand up to the year 2025 and beyond.
In pursuit of this recommendation, the Government of Ghana requested and the EXIM Bank of India agreed to provide a concessional line of credit amounting to Thirty Million United States Dollars (US$30 Million) to finance the rehabilitation and Upgrade of the Water System in Yendi”.
The project is expected to be completed within thirty (30) months.
The terms and conditions of the Credit Facility are as follows:
Loan Amount: US$30,000,000.00
Grace Period: 5 years
Repayment Period: 20 years
Maturity Period: 25 years
Interest Rate: 1.5 per annum (fixed)
Commitment Fee: 0.50% per annum
Project Duration: 30 months
Grant Element: 35.46%
Story Edzorna Francis Mensah
