Akwadum, Feb.28, GNA- The out-going British High Commissioner to Ghana, Dr. Rod Pullen has inaugurated a 52-million-cedi 20-seater WC facility for the people of Akwadum, near Koforidua on Friday. The facility is expected to provide a clean place of convenience for a minimum of hundred households who, prior to the project were relying on a dilapidated KVIP or "free range" system.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Pullen said the facility was funded by the British High Commission's Small Grant Scheme (SGS), which provides an opportunity for funding small-scale projects of developmental value through

the Hackman Foundation, an NGO based in the Eastern Region. He announced that the British Government, the largest bilateral development partner of Ghana, had instituted a programme of assistance worth about 70 million pounds sterling per year to support the Government of Ghana in areas such as health, education, rural development and budgetary support.

The High Commissioner, who indicated that the inauguration was his last public official assignment in the country, commended the Hackman Foundation for its collaboration with communities to undertake projects to improve sanitation in the area.

The Minister of Interior and Director of the Hackman Foundation, Mr Owusu Agyemang, said the old facility posed a threat to the health of the people hence the prompt response from the Foundation and the British High Commission.

He said operations of the facility would be privatised to ensure that it served the purpose for which it was provided and to stand the test of time.

A three-man committee was put in place to manage the new facility.