Tamale, Nov. 28, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor inaugurated the 45 million Euro Tamale Water Supply Rehabilitation and Expansion Project at Tamale.

He called on the people to guard it against miscreants who make illegal connections that undermine the quality and quantity of water delivered.

President John Agyekum Kufuor asked the people to appreciate that the supply of clean water was expensive and capital intensive and they must accept to pay their tariffs promptly. He announced that government was putting in place a regulatory framework to safeguard the interest of both service providers and consumers under the Public-Private Partnership Agreement in water delivery.

President Kufuor said government had no intention to divest itself of the responsibility to provide water to the people or privatize water supply in the country, as being speculated.

He called for unity and peace in Dagbon saying "For continued development there must be reconciliation. Anybody that would exploit the differences for political ends cannot be a true friend of Dagbon and indeed Ghana".

Alhaji Abubakar Saddique Boniface, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, said it was only during the administration of the NPP that a lot of investments had been made in the water sector. He said with the provision of potable water to the Tamale Metropolis women and children would no longer have to travel long distance for water.

Alhaji Boniface said the lack of water which had discouraged many people from establishing industries in the Metropolis would now become a thing of the past.

Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister, appealed to traditional authorities to sensitize their people to desist from tampering with the water pipe lines and also urged them to pay their water bills regularly and promptly.

He commended the President for the bold initiative he took to tackle the perennial water shortage in Tamale and its environs. Mr. Bob Kotter, Regional Managing Director-Africa Biwater, commended the management of Ghana Water Company Limited and the workers for their cooperation in ensuring the successful completion of the project.

He said he was happy to note that there was no incident during the entire construction process and commended the workers for observing work regulations.

The project designed to provide 9.6 million gallons of water a day would serve a population of over 500,000 people in the Metropolis and communities including Pong-Tamale, Yoggu, Datoyili and Wamali. It involved the expansion of transmission pipelines, construction of new treatment plant, a refurbishment of the old treatment facilities and a new 1.1 million underground water reservoir. It took two years to complete the project that was executed with credit facility from the Dutch Government under the ORET/MILIEV Programme. 28 Nov. 08