EU SUPPORTS COMMUNITY WATER PROJECT (PAGE 22, FEB 6, 2010)

THE European Union (EU) has presented 27 motorbikes worth GH¢137,000 to all the 17 districts in the Western Region.
The gesture, which is under the EU Small Towns Water and Sanitation Project, is to facilitate effective monitoring and management of the project in the beneficiary communities.
Ten districts under the project would receive two bikes each, while the other seven receive one each to facilitate their work.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, commended the EU for its commitment to the government’s poverty reduction strategy.
He said water was the basic necessity of life, which people should not be denied, so it was incumbent upon the government to strife for the provision of potable water for the citizenry, and also welcome support in that direction.
“The government is aware that the very survival of the people to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country hinges on the availability of potable water for all,” he said.
The minister said the challenge of national development and the government’s desire to meet the Millennium Development Goal of 85 per cent water coverage to the people by 2015 was being pursued seriously.
Mr Aidoo said the project, which started in the late 1990s to provide 27 communities in 10 beneficiary districts with potable water, was on course, with support from the government and the EU.
He said the purpose of the project was to improve access to safe water and sanitation in a sustainable manner to more than 157,000 people who live in rural communities.
Mr Aidoo said water supply to the people in those communities, where a chunk of the country’s food is produced to feed those in the cities, was very important.
He assured the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and the EU of support of the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC).
The Regional Director of CWSA, Mr Kwesi Brown, said the presentation of the bikes was part of the capacity building to ensure that water and sanitation was improved.
The EU Team Leader for Western and Central regions, Mr Joseph De-Bats, called for co-operation from all stakeholders to ensure that people in the beneficiary communities got potable water.