Dr Clifford Braimah, the Managing Director (MD) of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), has said that the Tono Irrigation Dam would supply 30,000 cm3 of water daily under the Water Supply Treatment Project to augment water supply in the Region.

He said there is high demand for water in the Region but the capacity to supply the whole Navrongo Municipality and the entire region is a challenge adding that the project would work up to 10.8 million cubic metres a year.

Dr Braimah said this on Monday when the Board Members of the GWCL and some government officials inspected the Tono Irrigation Dam and the new water project in the Kassena-Nankana District of the Upper East Region.

He said the Water Company in the Region was committed to managing the resource properly to ensure that the challenges encountered elsewhere would not hinder the smooth commencement of the project.

The MD said the recent construction work at the Vea Irrigation Dam is an initiative by the GWCL using its Internally Generated Funds to reconstruct the dam wall at a cost of 1.8 million dollars.

He said the Irrigation Development Committee would work with the Forestry Commission and the Water Resource Commission to create a buffer where people would not be allowed to farm.

He refuted claims that the GWCL was in water crises and explained that some areas might not be able to get water as regularly as they would like to because some reservoirs had lost much water due to evaporation in the harmattan season.

He urged the public to store water so they do not experience crisis situation.
Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, the Minister for Water and Sanitation, who led the team, said the project was partly sponsored by the ING Bank from Belgium and grant from the Netherlands Agency of Orio at a cost of 42 million dollars.

He said it would take about three years to be completed and it was designed to have a water tripping plant that would extend the pipelines from Tono to Bolgatanga and supply Paga and Bongo.

Mr. Alexander Afenyo-Markin, Member of Parliament (MP) for the Efutu Constituency and Board Chairman of the GWCL, thanked the sector Minister and assured him of proper management of the facility.

He said, “if the President’s vision is to see to it that every part of the country gets water for household consumption and for industry, then our duty as a company is to manage such facilities well.”

The Tono dam was constructed in 1975, and the Irrigation Company of Upper Region (ICOUR) had been in operation since the early 1980s.