Parliament approves €97M for Keta water supply system

Parliament has approved two loan agreements—Buyer Credit Facility and Commercial Facility—from Deutsche Bank S.p.A (as Arranger, Agent and Original Lenders) [supported by the Italian export credit agency, SACE S.p.A.] totalling €97,184,577.92 to finance the Expansion and Rehabilitation of the Keta Water Supply System in the Volta Region.

The agreements are: Buyer Credit Facility Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (represented by the Ministry of Finance) and Deutsche Bank S.p.A (as Arranger, Agent and Original Lenders) [supported by the Italian export credit agency, SACE S.p.A.] for an amount of €84,417,649.82 to finance the Expansion and Rehabilitation of the Keta Water Supply System, and

The object of the project is to rehabilitate and expand the Keta Water Supply System and the project duration is expected to be thirty (30) months from the date of commencement.

The major components of the project include:

9. Construction of an intake facility of capacity 42,053m3/ day (9.3MGD);
10. Construction of a 35,000m3/ day (7.7MGD) conventional water treatment plant; Construction of 62km transmission pipeline from Agordome to Keta via Anloga;
11. Construction of a Booster Station (i.e. 359m3/ hr capacity);
12. Construction of Storage tanks;
13. Rehabilitation and extension of distribution network, approximately 80km of pipes varying from 100mm to 450mm;
14. Rehabilitation and extension of distribution network, approximately 80km of pipes varying from 100mm to 450mm;
15. Supply of 8,000Nr. Domestic meters and spare parts; and
16. Rehabilitation of existing water treatment plant to its installed capacity of 78,200m3/day

The Committee noted that the Keta Water Supply System provides water to Agordome-Sogakope, Keta, Anloga and their surrounding communities. When complete, these towns would have access to regular supply of water. Other communities that would benefit from the project include Kpodze, Kpotame, Vume, Tefle, Sokpoe, Dabala Junction, Tregui, Badadzi, Havedzi, Adzato, Tegbi, Hovi-Aferdome, Kedzi and Nukpesekope, among others.

The Committee observed that the benefits to accrue from the project when completed are:

1. Improved access to potable water supply to the supply areas;
2. Improved level of service by increased coverage in projected area;
3. Growth in productivity of the inhabitants leading to economic development and growth;
4. Improved business opportunities mainly industrial and commercial enterprises; and
5. Improved, clean, safe and reliable drinking water leading to improvement in health of the people in the catchment area.

BACKGROUND

The Agordome-Sogakope water supply system supplies water to Sogakope, Keta and other surrounding towns and villages. The water supply system which was built in 1998 takes its raw water from the Lake Volta.

The existing water system has five main components namely:

1. Intake facility to abstract raw water from the Lake Volta.
2. Water treatment facilities with a nominal capacity of 7,200 ma/day.
3. . Conveyance and Distribution Systems-160 km of pipes of various sizes.
4. . Three (3) elevated water tanks (EWTs) and two (2) ground level reservoirs (GLRs) and
5. Two (2) booster pumping stations (BPSs).

As a result of population and economic growth in the Southern part of the Volta Region over the past years, the current water supply system to these areas is inadequate. The situation has compelled majority of the inhabitants to resort to ground water and private water tankers for their water needs, options that are more expensive and sometimes have negative health effects, if not handled properly.

In order to address these concerns, the Ministry contracted Messrs Lesico Infrastructure S.R.L. to carry out an assessment on the Keta Water Supply systems. The assessment indicated the poor and deteriorating state of the Water Supply System and recommended the need for major rehabilitation and expansion works to be carried out timely in order to ensure continuity of water supply to meet growing demand up to the year 2030 and beyond.

Story filed by Edzorna Francis Mensah