A 50,000-litre automated water supply system has been commissioned for the Saltpond Government Hospital to end decades of water challenges at the facility.
The Medical Superintendent of the Saltpond Government Hospital, John Moses Wereku, described the water project as a major relief for the hospital, which has faced chronic water shortages for decades.
He said the facility spent more than GH¢20,000 on water during recent disease outbreaks, including the cholera epidemic, adding that such funds could have been invested in medicines, equipment and patient care.
"This project has not only given us water; it has given us life and hope," he stated.
The Founder of the Mfantsiman Saltpond Development Alliance (MSDA), Ernest De-Graft Egyir, who undertook the project, said the water project, executed as part of the Saltpond Homecoming Festival, marked the beginning of a long-term vision to transform the municipality through citizen participation rather than relying solely on government interventions.
Speaking at the ceremony last Friday, Mr Egyir said the MSDA, with its community-driven development agenda for Saltpond, would turn the annual homecoming celebration into a platform to deliver lasting development projects that directly improve residents' lives.
"Water is life. In a healthcare facility, water is indispensable.
This project will serve generations to come and demonstrates that when citizens unite behind a common purpose, extraordinary things become possible," he said.
He announced that this year’s homecoming and the Saltpond Odambea Festival would be jointly celebrated as part of efforts to strengthen community identity and participation.
He further disclosed that the second edition of the Saltpond Homecoming Festival would be held from August 22, on the theme “Building Saltpond Together: From Homecoming to Sustainable Development,” emphasising unity between indigenes at home and those in the diaspora to drive local development.
Next phase interventions
As part of the next phase of interventions, Mr Egyir disclosed that the alliance would construct modern public sanitation facilities to improve sanitation, establish a recreational centre for youth development and sports, and build a hostel for healthcare professionals and relatives of patients at the Saltpond Municipal Hospital and renovate its washrooms.
While expressing appreciation to the MSDA, Dr Wereku appealed for further support to rehabilitate the hospital, established in 1920, saying it was grappling with leaking roofs, cracked walls and floors, obsolete equipment, an incomplete emergency centre and an anaesthetic machine that has been out of service for about 10 years.
He also revealed that the hospital's only official vehicle frequently broke down, affecting service delivery, while the electrical system required complete rewiring.
Dr Wereku further raised concerns about the persistent theft of hospital property and warned that management would no longer tolerate such acts.
Strengthened services
In a speech delivered on her behalf, the Mfantseman Municipal Director of Health Services, Gifty Ankrah, described access to reliable water as essential to quality healthcare, saying the project would strengthen surgical care, maternity care, infection prevention, environmental sanitation and laboratory services.
The Chief of Saltpond Bakado and the Twafohen of the Nkusukum Traditional Area, Nana Gyan Akwanda VII, said the hospital had struggled with an inadequate water supply since its establishment more than a century ago.
He commended the MSDA for fulfilling its promise to provide a lasting solution, describing the intervention as a major contribution to the revival of Saltpond and urged other citizens to support community-driven development initiatives.
