According to Akufo-Addo, the Tamale Water Supply Project seeks to expand the supply capacity of the Tamale Metropolitan area, and also improve upon the flexibility of water supply, by building a new water supply system which will rely on the White Volta at Yapei, with a 29.7 million gallons per day capacity water treatment plant.
“This will be, by far, the biggest water project in the five northern regions, and the second biggest in the history of our country,” he said.
Explaining the rationale for the Project, the President stated that Tamale, like most parts of the country, is faced with rapid population growth, which, unfortunately, has been a key factor militating against the provision of adequate social infrastructure for Ghanaians, with the demand for water outstripping supply in Tamale.
“I have recounted the history of water supply to Tamale in order to place in proper context the significance of the current intervention to meet the water demand for Tamale and its environs, looking at a planning horizon up to the year 2040,” he said.
Government, President Akufo-Addo said, will construct a new water treatment plant at Yapei, thereby making available two water supply systems working concurrently to supply water to Tamale and its environs in order to guarantee the availability of enough potable water in the Metropolis, as this will extend the coverage area of water supply.
“To execute this project on a turnkey basis, Government has secured a credit facility amounting to two hundred and twenty-three million, two hundred and eighty-seven thousand, nine hundred and seventy–nine United States dollars, fifty-six cents (US$223,287,979.56) from the UK Export Finance and the Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch,” he said.
The President continued, “I am happy to state that, upon completion, the Project will provide potable water to over seven hundred and ninety-two thousand (792,000) inhabitants of Tamale and its environs. This ties in with government’s agenda of ensuring that, by the year 2030, as enshrined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, all Ghanaians will have access to potable water, in other words there will be ‘Water For All’”.
