The President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has inaugurated the $ 21.6 million Mampong Water Supply Rehabilitation and Expansion Project in the Ashanti Region with a call on Ghanaians to have hope in the government to deliver on its electoral promises.
 
He said there was no doubt about the ability of the government to deliver but noted that this might take some little time, which demanded patience from the people.

The water project

Funded with a concessionary loan from the Exim Bank with a grant element of 35 per cent, the project would serve about 58,000 people in Mampong and surrounding communities.

The communities are Damang, Daano, Bosofour, Besease, Kyeremfaso and Krobo, Mpenya, Dadease, Bonkrom, Nsuta and Beposo.

Significantly, the project has the capacity to meet the water demands of the areas up to 2020 for a projected population of approximately 90,000.

It would increase water supply from 2.5 million gallons a day to 10.5 million gallons a day while the distribution network would expand by about 42 kilometers.

Originally, the Mampong water supply project was established in 1961 by the Kwame Nkrumah-led government to serve about 20,000 people but as the area grew in population, its capacity was unable to meet the demands.

Successive governments failed to tackle its rehabilitation until 2011 when the late President Mills-led government sought financial assistance to rehabilitate and expand it.

Promise

President Mahama said during the 2012 electioneering campaign, he promised to continue with the many projects that were started by Prof Mills but which were not completed.

"This is one of the projects and I am happy that it has seen completion," he added.

Mr Mahama said his government would not discriminate against any region in the implementation of development projects and commended the chiefs and people of Mampong for the tremendous welcome accorded him.

Collins Dauda

The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Collins Dauda, said the Ghana Water Company, managers of the project, planned to plant trees along the dam to protect it.
He also urged consumers to readily pay their bills to ensure that money was available to run the plant.

Mamponghene

In a welcome address, the Mamponghene, Daasebre Osei Bonsu II, said the President had shown that "he is a man of the people."

He said the expansion of the water project was one of the best things to happen to the area in recent times and indicated that the people would always be grateful to the government.

He appealed to the government to ensure constant electricity supply to the plant to ensure uninterrupted supply of water.

In a related development, President Mahama, earlier in the day, inaugurated an electrification project at Frante in the Ejura-Sekyedumase district.

In a speech at a well-attended ceremony, the president said government was poised to pursue its electrification programme with all seriousness to cover many more communities. Presently, 900 communities are being connected to the national grid.

He said the government was doing a lot to improve the lives of the people and there was no turning back.

RadioXYZonline