By Albert Futukpor
Gbalahi (N/R), July 27, GNA – A Wastewater Treatment Plant has been constructed at Gbalahi near Tamale to help in treating faecal sludge in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner to decrease the level of contamination in the ground and surface waters.
The 20-million Euro-facility has a capacity of 1,000 cubic metres per day and built with a comprehensive European treatment technology, with funding from the Exim Bank of Hungary.
It was undertaken by Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies, and Pureco, a Hungarian company.
Madam Florence Larbi, the Chief Operating Officer, Environmental and Sanitation Cluster of Jospong Group, who spoke during the opening of the facility at Gbalahi in the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern Region, said it was in line with the Government’s environmental policies to ensure a clean country.
Tamale is the fourth largest city in the country and has a total population of 374,744 with an annual population growth rate of 3.5 per cent.
Latrine coverage in the area, according to the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly, is about 11 per cent.
In 2014, a Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant started operations at Gbalahi with a designed capacity of 400 cubic metres per day and received a daily discharge of about 10-15 trips of cesspool emptier as most trucks were diverted to farmlands.
Currently in Tamale, only about two per cent of the collected wastewater or septage is treated adequately, hence the construction of the new Wastewater Treatment Plant to address the situation.
The operationalisation of the facility would help protect the environment from faecal pollution to prevent related diseases and ensure general health and well-being of the people, Madam Larbi said.
It would further help to generate about 300 direct and indirect jobs for the people of the area.
Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, the Northern Regional Minister, said the construction of the facility was in line with the Government’s vision and continuous commitment to providing
sustainable infrastructure for environmental sanitation, and ultimately improve the health of the people.
“It will further provide a sustainable solution in the management of the current uncontrolled dumping of faecal sludge in an efficient and environmentally friendly way,” he said.
“I am very optimistic that there will be a reduction in the level of contaminated water, improvement in the living conditions of inhabitants, increase living standards and improvement in the general health and well-being of the people of Tamale and its environs.”
“I am also reliably informed that the facility will serve as a research hub for educational institutions within and outside Tamale. It will further boost the Government’s intervention towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals bothering on improved sanitation, job creation and building sustainable, resilient and safe cities.”
Mr Balinth Horvath, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Pureco, said it was an honour to the company to join its Ghanaian partner to contribute value to the lives of the people of Tamale and its surroundings.
“We see this project as merely the inception of a long-term and fruitful Ghanaian-Hungarian collaboration in the realm of water management.”
Mr Tristan Azbej, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Hungary, expressed happiness about the partnership to construct the facility, which would create a great future in improving sanitation in the Northern Region.
Nanton-Naa Bawa, Paramount Chief of Nanton Traditional Area, expressed gratitude to the partners for the great job and appealed to all stakeholders to help construct other sanitation facilities to address solid waste management and related issues in the area.
GNA