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13 Agave communities get pipe-borne water

President John MahamaThirteen communities in the Agave Traditional Area now have access to pipe-borne water. The President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, inaugurated the water project, funded by the government, for the communities last Saturday.

Supported by the Queen of Agave Afedome, Mama Dunenyo Afedu I, President Mahama turned on the tap amidst cheers by the people. He drank some of the water from a calabash before passing it on to the queen mother to also have a sip.

In his address, President Mahama said he was happy that the government had been able to supply clean drinking water to the 13 communities.

He said the supply of potable water to the 13 communities was an indication of the numerous development projects being executed by the government in the country.

For instance, he said, the government had achieved most of the indicators of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including the attainment of 90 per cent school enrolment for both boys and girls, reduction in extreme poverty from 37 per cent in the 1990s to five per cent, extension of water supply to 67 per cent of the population and the connection of 72 per cent of communities to the national electricity grid.

"The country is making progress. It is not moving backwards," he said.

The President said most communities in the Agave area which had been connected to the national grid would soon get their meters.

President Mahama said the next project for the area was the construction of the roads.

The President said work on the Eastern Corridor Road Project, which would link the north and south of the country, was also ongoing to expand the road network in the Volta Region.

Besides, he said, roads in coastal communities in the Volta and other regions would benefit from the Eastern Multi-Modal Project.

President Mahama said work on the police station in the area would be speeded up to ensure its early completion and resumption of operations.

."I can now enjoy safe, clean drinking water for the first time in my life," was the expression of Madam Mercy, a 70-year-old woman at Agave Akplale in the South Tongu District in the Volta Region, when President John Dramani Mahama turned on the tap to signal the start of the flow of pipe-borne water in the community.

Despite her feeble legs, Madam Mercy joined other residents of the community to dance 'Agbadza', a traditional dance of the people of the Volta Region, in celebration of the pipe-borne water supply.

She told the Daily Graphic through an interpreter that she could not tell the level of her excitement for drinking pipe-borne water and using it for domestic chores, instead of relying on the Amu (Volta) River.

Messrs Famous Gamon, 35, and Ebenezer Tetteh, 30, expressed similar sentiments in an interview with the Daily Graphic.

They said they were happy that finally they could also drink water without entertaining fear of contracting any water-borne disease.

Mama Dunenyo Afedu I, thanked the government for extending water and electricity to the community.

She mentioned the poor state of the roads as a pressing need of the people and asked the government to develop the roads.

Present at the inaugural ceremony were the Chief of Staff, Mr Prosper Douglas Bani; the Volta Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, and the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Clement Kofi Humado.

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