Wa, April 7, GNA - Communities in the Wa Municipality would be provided with 60 boreholes fitted with hand pumps under the sustainable rural water and sanitation project funded by the World Bank.

With 88 boreholes in 58 communities, the Municipality currently enjoys potable water coverage of about 62 per cent which is still below the Millennium Development Goal coverage of 76 per cent. Mr Worlanyo Siabi, the Upper West Regional Director of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), made this known at the launch of the Project in Wa.

The Wa Municipal Assembly which is among the six beneficiary districts in the region is expected to meet only five per cent of the total cost of the project.

Mr Siabi urged the Assembly to devise strategies and plans on how to mitigate the social issues that would be generated during the implementation of the project.

He expressed regret that the Small Town Water Project at Charia which was completed last year was facing sustainability challenges and expressed the hope that this would be addressed soon. Mr Duogu Yakubu, Wa Municipal Chief Executive, the Assembly had invested GH¢ 182,715.75 from its share of the District Development Facility in the construction of 19 boreholes with five mechanized systems.

He said while progress had been made in the delivery of potable water to rural communities the same could not be said of hygiene and sanitation delivery.

Mr Yakubu said focus was being put on the provision of water to rural communities because the World Bank's water and sanitation policy placed more emphasis on rural communities than on the cities.