Cabinet has approved a $30 million water supply expansion project for the people of Yendi in the Northern Region.

The development comes on the back of the successful performance of the funeral rites of the two late Dagbon Overlords, Ya Na Mahamadu Abdulai IV and Ya Na Yakubu Andani II.

The project is to be financed through a credit facility agreement between the government of Ghana and the Indian Exim bank.

This was announced by Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah at a press meeting in Accra on Thursday, 17 January 2019.

The water supply system serves the Yendi municipality and other surrounding towns and villages. It takes its raw water from River Daka, which flows through a water treatment facility built in 1961.

As a result of the population and economic growth in the Yendi municipality, Mr. Nkrumah said it has become necessary to expand the existing water supply system to meet the demands of beneficiary towns and communities.

He noted that the expansion of the water supply system is also in line with the government’s policy to ensure that by 2030, all Ghanaians have potable water.

“The provision of potable water to over 133,000 people through the Yendi project would be a giant step towards achieving this objective,” he noted.

The government said it is delighted about the project because the Yendi municipality, among other things, contributes to the agriculture sector through the production of food and cash crops on a large scale, and the presence of iron ore deposits in the catchment area.

“The supply of potable water would, therefore, be an impetus to increase production and boost the mining potential,” Mr Nkrumah said.

The scope of work for the water supply project will include:

* The construction of a 15,000m3/day (3.3MGD) Conventional water treatment plant

* Construction of 25-km transmission pipelines

* Construction of water booster station

* Construction of reservoirs and rehabilitation and extension of distribution networks, approximately 50-km

The project will take 30 months to complete.