Parliament has approved by resolution the contract agreement between Ghana Water Company Limited (acting on behalf of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources for the Government of Ghana and Biwater International Limited of England, for an amount of two hundred and seventy-two million, two hundred and eighty-seven thousand, nine hundred and eighty USD, (US$2 72,28 7,980.00) for the Tamale Water Supply Scheme project.
The principal objective of the project as captured in the report of The Committee on Works and Housing, is to develop a water supply system that provides the people in the catchment area with adequate and reliable drinking water to 2040 and even beyond.
Specifically, the project seeks to “increase the production capacity in a single-stage development based on constructing a 135 MLD treatment plant at Yapei to meet demand horizon; diversify the production away from the existing Dalun water treatment plant; increase service coverage within the city of Tamale and surrounding villages, particularly, to the south west of the city; and Improve the distribution system management”.
The Chairman of the Committee, Nana Amokoh, reading the report said, “the scope of works for the project include but not limited to the following; New Water Treatment Plant: Construction of a new Raw Water intake complete with pumps and Raw Water transmission pipeline adjacent to Yapei, construction of a 135,000 m3/day water treatment plant at Yapei including a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system Supply and Installation of a dedicated power line from Buipe to Yapei, construction of a new Treated Water transmission pipeline, construction of new Treated Water ground level storage reservoir and booster pumping station at the existing water storage facilities at Bagabaga and Kaladan, construction of staff accommodation, construction of a district office in Tamale, provision of stand pipes, supply and installation of a dedicated power line from Tamale to Dalun Water treatment Plant”.
The background:
The existing water supply system for Tamale and its environs was constructed in 1972. The Treatment Plant is located at Nawuni on the White Volta River, 37km North-West of Tamale. To improve water supply situation in Tamale, expansion works were carried out in 2008, at Dalun which included the construction of a 20,000m3 Storage Reservoir at Kukuo Yepalsi.
This increased the production of the Water treatment plant from 25,000m3/ day to 44,000 m3/day. However, due to rapid population growth in Tamale and its environs, there is not adequate capacity to meet the water demands of the fast developing city and there are increasing number of residents in Tamale that do not have reliable and adequate access to potable water. In order to mitigate the situation, Ghana Water Company Limited has had to implement a water rationing programme.
To meet the water demand and sustainably supply potable water for residents of Tamale and its environs up to the year 2040 planning horizon, the government was faced with the option to either rehabilitate the existing water treatment plant or construct a new water supply system.
Therefore, in line with its policy to as much as practicable sustainably provide potable water to all Ghanaians, the government resolved to construct a new water system in addition to the existing one. It is envisaged that the two Systems would thus be adequate to meet the growing demand and also address the perennial water supply challenges in the project area.
It is against this background that Cabinet and Parliament respectively approved the Facility Agreement of this project. The request, therefore, is to enable The Ministry to operationalize The Facility Agreement for works to commence.
Story by Edzorna Francis Mensah
