Free Water Supply To Residents Of Techiman

Further to the presidential directives dated 5th April 2020 on the provision of free water supply to the Ghanaian population during this COVID-19 emergency response period.

The Minister of sanitation and water resources Hon. Cecilia Dapaah has directed the management of Community water and sanitation agency (CWSA) to issue guidelines for implementation with respect to pipe water systems managed by water and sanitation management teams (WSMTs), NON-governmental organization (NGO’S) and the private sector water providers to provide water free of charge for domestic use in all communities in Ghana.

In line with this directive of the president H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Management of the Techiman Municipal Assembly led by the Municipal Chief Executive Hon. John Kofi Donyina called for a meet with all private sector water providers in the Municipality to deliberate on the issues to ensure that the directive of the president on free supply of water is achieved.

At the meeting, Hon. Donyina thanked participants for attending the meeting despite their busy schedules and encourage them to observe the social distancing protocols at their respective homes and workplaces.

He then explained the reasons for the meeting and stress that the Assembly has received a letter from Accra, directing all Assemblies to meet water operators within their jurisdiction and subsequently, compile their bills for the months of January, February, and March 2020 for onward submission to Accra.

He pointed out that, the idea of collecting their old bills will help the government to be able to pay their claims using that three months as a bench mark, but was quick to add that government or the Assembly cannot force anybody to supply free water to the people but rather an appeal for them to help the citizenry in this difficult times.

He added that, the payment process will go through a thorough validation to ensure value for money and also to determine those that actually supplied the water within that period.

Touching on the issue of pre-financing, Hon. Donyina said most government work is pre-finance you invest in the work and receive your payment later. He explained that Assembly cannot afford to pay any claim instantly to anybody.

Hon. Donyina further explained that, despite government timely interventions in this difficult times of the covid-19 pandemic to mitigate the hardship of citizens, some people will take advantage of the situation to misuse the water.

He caution operators to put strict measures in place to control those that will take advantage and misuse the water at the determents of other domestic users.

Participants were allowed to asked questions or contributions for more clarifications, Mr. Eric Yeboah said some people at the community level use the water for commercial farming and molding of blocks should they be allowed to use the water for that purpose.

In response Hon. Donyina answered his question and many other questions from participants but was quick to add in his conclusion that proper regulations and control measures will be put in place by the assembly to check their operations.