Prez inaugurates water project for Kyebi
A water project established at a cost of 7.9 million euros to serve Kyebi and surrounding communities has been inaugurated by President John Dramani Mahama.
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Kyebi and its surrounding communities have had to grapple with how to get potable water for domestic and commercial use for many years.
The only water facility established during the CPP administration when the population of the area was just about 5,000 was unable to serve them with time due to lack of expansion to correspond with the growing population.
Consequently, the current government took a concessionary loan from Australia to begin the new project, which will serve a population of about 30,000 in five communities, including Kyebi, Odenase, Anyinam, Apedwa and Nkwabeng.
According to the President, because the Birim river has been heavily polluted, officials of the Ghana Water Company have to use excess chemicals in treating the Birim river before consumption.
Galamsey headquarters
Mr Mahama expressed deep concern about the illegal gold mining business (galamsey) in Kyebi and said the area had now become the headquarters of galamsey in Ghana.
He, therefore, urged the chiefs to join forces with the government in its efforts to arrest the canker once and for all.
The President also said while in a flight to the town, he saw vast arable lands destroyed by illegal miners. Rivers had also not been spared, and as a result, treatment of the water at the new water plant had become very expensive.
He urged the illegal miners to avail themselves of the opportunities inherent in the reclamation programme which the government, in conjunction with the Chinese government and the World Bank, would be rolling out.
The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Collins Dauda, asked the people to pay for the water they would be using to ensure that the Ghana Water Company got the needed revenue to run the plant.