Accra, Feb.27 GNA - Mr Samuel G. O. Lamptey, Managing Director of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) on Friday announced that the Government had voted 8.7 billion cedis towards the construction of mechanised boreholes at Dodowa, to be pumped to supplement the current water supply at Adenta.

The project, details of which were being studied currently, would start in March and would be completed in five months.

He also said improvement works would soon start at Teshie, Cape Coast and Tamale, to improve the general water supply in these areas. Mr Lamptey said this at a press conference in Accra to clarify certain concerns, which had been expressed from various quarters on the irregular supply of water in some areas of the Accra - Tema Metropolis. The aim of the press conference was also to inform the public about the current stage in water supply delivery in the country as whole.

He said effects of water pollution on GWCL were enormous, as this had largely contributed to the high operational cost of the company. He said while it costs about 191 cedis to treat one cubic metre of raw water from the Weija reservoir, it costs 24 cedis to treat the same quantum of water from the relatively clean Kpong reservoir.

Mr Lamptey said some on-going road development projects in the city had seriously disrupted water supply and distribution to many people. He pledged that the Management of the Company and the Ministry of Works and Housing were working closely to implement measures aimed at improving water supply delivery in the country.

He said in the short term, changes were being introduced into the rationing programme, to ensure equity and allow some water to reach all consumers.

Mr Lamptey also announced that the GWCL taskforce had been charged to liaise with resident associations and concerned citizens in all poorly served areas, to monitor the rationing programme while at the same time conducting field surveys to check illegal connections.

He appealed to the general public to moderate the use of water for car washing, by using buckets instead of hosing and report all leakages to the nearest GWCL office. 27 Feb. 04