Wa, March 28, GNA - Construction of pipe water systems for the first batch of eight small towns in the Upper West Region would begin next month. The work, which would be executed within eight months at a total cost of 27 billion cedis, is a component of a 26 million dollar World Bank credit contracted by the government for the country's small town water and sanitation project.

The eight beneficiary communities are Jirapa, Lawra, Nandom, Nadowli, Daffiama, Tumu, Gwollu and Sakai. Mrs Blandina Betty Batiir, Regional Director of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency who spoke to the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Wa on Monday, said 15 small towns in the region were selected for the project, which is under phase two of the Community Water and Sanitation Project (CWSP). Mrs Batiir said after feasibility studies during CWSP phase one, some of the towns recorded very low water yields while others could not meet the five per cent community contribution and therefore, could not be brought on board.

Government therefore decided to take over that responsibility by using HIPC funds to pay for communities, which were unable to pay their contributions. "However, as I speak to you now only Nadowli District got funds from HIPC to pay for their communities," she said. Funsi, Busa and Charia communities, which were selected from the then Wa District were not in the first batch because while the Busa community could not meet its five per cent contribution but had good water yield, the other two towns recorded inadequate water yields.