Accra, May 17, GNA - The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) intends to build a new water supply system for Koforidua and its environs as a long-term measure to meet the water needs of the communities.

Announcing this in Parliament on Wednesday, during "Question Time", Mr Isaac Adjei-Mensah, Minister of Works and Housing said the new system, comprising intake, transmission pipelines, treatment plant and reservoir, would be based on the Volta Lake.

The Densu River is the current source of water supply to the Koforidua municipality. Mr Adjei-Mensah told the House that two firms have submitted technical and financial proposals to the sector Ministry, in respect of the project, and these are currently being evaluated.

Mr Yaw Barimah, NPP-Koforidua, had asked the Minister on the sector's plan to address the acute water shortage that the municipality faces, especially during the first quarter of every year.

Mr Adjei-Mensah told the House that during the past three to four years, the Ministry had taken measures to address this problem. He said the measures involve the provision of polytanks filled with water supplied by the GWCL's tankers at vantage points in the municipality.

He added that institutions such as the Ghana highway Authority, the New Juaben Municipal Assembly, Ministry of Health, Ghana National Fire Service and National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) also assisted the GWCL by providing additional tanks and water tankers to supplement those already in the system.

The Minister noted that the output of the raw water of the Densu River intake at present is about 6,000 cubic metres per day, which is grossly inadequate to meet the current estimated demand of about 10,000 cubic metres a day. He said to compound the situation, the river dries up at the point of abstraction during the dry season.

To meet the present demand, he said, the GWCL in 1995 sought funding from Agence Francaise de Developpment (AFD), to carry out emergency works. It involved the dredging of impounded area to increase the storage capacity, rehabilitation of embankment and weir, intake structure, raw water pipeline and treatment plant, as well as laying of distribution mains.

The Minister told the House that the project, unfortunately, has not been implemented as a result of AFD's unwillingness to provide the required funding due to the weak financial position of GWCL, which would make ability to repay the loan difficult. He said the Ministry, therefore, decided to seek an alternative source of funding, adding that discussions are far advanced with the Spanish government to fund the project.

Asked whether in view of the weak financial position of GWCL the Spanish government would be willing to provide the needed funds for the project, Mr Adjei-Mensah explained that the Spanish loan carries a substantial grant element.

Besides, the loan would help build the capacity of GWCL to be able to repay the loan, he said. About the Ministry's plans to arrest erosion at Old Tafo and Old Suame in Kumasi and Mankranso in the Ahafo Ano South District of Ashanti Region, Mr Adjei-Mensah explained that the construction of and maintenance of drains to check erosion, have been transferred to the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.

He said this is in conformity with the new drainage and sanitation policy of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, adding that a transitional period is, however, required to avoid undesired lapses or overlapping during implementation of the new policy.

The Minster said Old Tafo is under the jurisdiction of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), which is directly responsible for the provision of drainage infrastructure within the communities.

This he said would require the preparation of a drainage plan for the area, and pledged his Ministry's preparedness to offer technical advice to the KMA.