GWCL needs $300,000 to fix water Aburi

Ghana Water Company Says(GWCL) they need just about GH¢300,000 to complete mechanisation of the bore-holes sunk in order to supply water for Aburi and all the institutions located in the mountainous town, including the Peduase Lodge.

Located on the Akwapim Ridge, Aburi is endowed with so much natural resource, including water. In addition to this, there are so many educational institutions, such as Aburi Girls Secondary, Adonteng Secondary, Presbyterian Women Training College, and many more.

Being one of the first locations Basel Missionaries settled to spread the word of God; one can imagine how many scholars the city can boast of.

The city on the hill also boasts of the Peduase Lodge built by Ghana’s first President Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. This edifice can also not be utilised by the state due to unavailability of water, in spite of enormous resources expended in renovating and refurbishing it a few years ago.

However in spite of all these endowments, Aburi does not have potable drinking water although the place is so close to Accra the national capital.

For nine months now water supply which is supposed to be coming from the Kpong Head-works has dried up and the headquarters of GWCL does not even know about it.

Water pumped from Kpong only gets as far as Amonokrom, with the concrete reservoir constructed at Aburi panting remaining virtually empty.

This has left Aburi Girls Secondary School and all the other institutions aforementioned without water, and one can imagine the toil students and residents have to go through especially in the dry season to get water.

“If you were here five years ago you would have seen the compound littered with blue water containers”, said Mrs. Asempapa, Headmistress of Aburi Girls Secondary School.

She said some parents always had to bring water in drums to their children each week. The school therefore decided to channel all the rain water harvested through the eaves-gutters into a newly constructed concrete reservoir, “but this would also not suffice the students”.

The Aburi Girls Secondary School therefore initiated a project; two years ago tasking McDonnell U.S.A Incorporated to look for suitable spots to sink artesian wells for water to be pumped from into the school.

Fortunately all the bore-holes yielded water, with one of them producing 540 gallons of water per minute. “In fact evidence abounds in and around Aburi to the fact that wherever a well is dug there would be water. During the rainy seasons water springs up all over the place”, said Nana Baah Abu Okai IV Agonahene of Aburi.

However, in spite of this apparent abundance of underground water the people of Aburi are still thirsty.

According to Michael Borte Baidoo, “since the volume of water discovered by the contractors is more than enough to serve the whole of Aburi township, all the educational institutions and the Peduase lodge”,he GWCL has decided to alter the initial program to serve only Aburi Girls Secondary from the wells, but rather mechanise it such that it would be able to serve the whole community.

Mr Baidoo told the Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Hanna Bisiw that since the pipes had already been procured the rest of the project would complete as soon as the$300,000 is made availbale.

At the concrete reservoir that is meant to serve Aburi, a bit of scrutiny on the part of Dr. Bisiw revealed that the water stored in the tank might be unwholesome for the people since there was no lock on the lids with lizards and wall-geckos swimming in the little water left in it.

This heightened the deputy minister’s concerns that not only do the people lack potable drinking water, but also the little that is served them might not be safe for their consumption.

Dr. Bisiw urged service providers in the water delivery sector to move away from the drawing board and get into implementation. “There have been so many programs on the drawing board but our government is moving away from the drawing board and getting into implementation”, she said.

The deputy minister reiterated the fact that the government wants to see to it that each community has potable drinking water and so would stop at noyhing to make that a reality. She also assured the Omanhene of Aburi, Otubuor Gyan Kwasi that the government is serious about solving the water problem of Aburi once and for all.

Dr. Bisiw promised government’s readiness to commit funds to the project immediately so as to ensure adequate potable water for the people before the next dry season sets in

The Omanhene expressed gratitude to the government for taking the first step, promising t see to it that any litigation over the land would be resolved in no time so that the water project could be completed to serve his people.


By: Justice Lee Adoboe