By Florence Afriyie Mensah
Kumasi, June 26, GNA – More households and institutions are expected to benefit from the ongoing expansion and rehabilitation of the Asafo Sewage Treatment facility, Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the Minister for Water and Sanitation, has said.
The system is currently receiving sewages from 323 households, 13 institutions and some 14 public toilets within Kumasi, and the expectation is that the numbers would double upon the completion of the expansion works.
The Kumasi Central Prisons and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) respectively, are also expected to be connected to the system as part of the expansion.
The Minister who was on a two-day working visit to the Greater Kumasi Area, said it was important to rehabilitate and expand the current sewage system to treat more liquid waste after over three decades.
She explained that the expansion work was a component of the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) Sanitation and Water Project (SWP), which is a four-year project aimed at increasing access to improved sanitation and water supply with emphasis on low-income areas.
The project, which was expected to be completed in two years had taken into consideration population growth and migration, Madam Dapaah hinted.
She noted that the current facility had an aquaculture, which would be expanded to maximise income generation in pursuit of maintaining the project for the next 20 years.
“It is not going to be business as usual. Whoever has a partnership with the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) will make sure the right thing is done- the right fee will be charged to generate money to sustain this project.
The government should not be the one to maintain and to do extra work as and when necessary, but the project should be self-financing,” she emphasised.
The Minister, as part of the visit, had earlier visited other GKMA-SWP component sites at Ejisu, Oforikrom, Asokwa and KMA, to inspect the progress of work on household and institutional toilets.
She expressed satisfaction at the progress of work and urged the contractors on these sites to ensure the speedy completion of work.
She underscored the importance of sanitation, saying, “It gives us dignity and we want everyone to be sanitation conscious whether in the homes or at public places.”
Mr George Asiedu, the GKMA-SWP Coordinator, told the media that since the project began in November 2021, a little over 10,000 household toilets had been constructed out of the 30,000 targets.
Contracts had also been awarded to construct 129 institutional sanitation facilities for needy schools and health facilities and are at different stages of completion, he said.
GNA