A group calling itself the Teshie Concerned Citizens Association has petitioned president Akufo Addo to halt any move by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), to force the Ghana Water Company Limited to operationalize the Accra Desalination Plant.
The Ghana Water Company directed a shutdown of the plant in January this year to allow the company to resolve pending challenges it had with the management of the plant.
[contextly_sidebar id=”uiW6Njw8ZkIQLw6Pv7JayPOnZvYwsuM1″] But speaking to Citi News, the Chairman of the Teshie Concerned Citizens Association, Seth Tagoe indicated that water produced from the desalination plant, which treats sea water for drinking and other domestic activities, poses a threat to their health.
“We will suffer the most. If we continue to drink from this plant for some time, we are going to suffer some health implications. When they wanted to set up this plant, there was no community-stakeholder engagement. They never told us the consequences of drinking this water. They just brought it because we are poor and illiterates. We drink salt and sand. At times you feel the water is coming from eroded materials.”
“This petition is directed to the President of the Republic of Ghana because we know he is a listening father. We know when poor people call on him, he listens to them. Since PURC is now fighting for the interest of investors other than poor people, we have no option but to write to the President to come to our aid so that this desalination plant is not opened again”, he stressed.
Resistance to the project
The Teshie and Nungua areas have had water challenges for years and because of low water volumes, the Ghana Water Company Limited for years undertook water rationing.
The introduction of the Desalination plant was to ensure 13 million gallons of water was produced per day, to eliminate rationing and provide consumers got quality and affordable water.
However, a bigger problem persisted for GWCL, which is the off-taker under the Water Purchasing Agreement between Ghana and Befesa.
A consolidation of all the costs meant that Ghana Water was buying the water at about GHc 6.5 per cubic meter, and selling at the fixed PURC rate of about GHc 1.5 per cubic meter.
This arrangement meant that the GWCL was losing about GHc 5 for every cubic meter of water sold from the Teshie Desalination Plant.
About the desalination plant
The Accra seawater desalination plant is located at Nungua in the Kpeshie district and is the first desalination plant built in Ghana.
The plant started commercial operation in March 2015 and was officially inaugurated in April 2015.
The $125m project has a capacity to desalinate 60,000m3 of sea water daily providing fresh water to more than 300,000 people in various municipalities of the Greater Accra administrative region.
The plant marked a significant step in improving drinking water facilities in the country, which is witnessing rapid population growth.
The plant was designed, constructed and is being operated by Befesa Desalination Developments Ghana, a joint venture of Abengoa Water Investments Ghana, Daye Water Investment (Ghana), and local partner Hydrocol.
In February 2018, American water services company, AquaVenture Holdings, acquired a majority stake in the Teshie Desalination Plant.
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By: Nii Larte Lartey & Anass Seidu/citinewsroom.com/Ghana