Guma Valley Water Company, Ghana Water Company Limited and VEI (an initiative of seven Dutch water operators that are committed to Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6) of the United Nations: sustainable water and sanitation for everyone) on Monday 4thJuly,2022 kicked-off the solidarity-based Water Operators’ Partnership (WOP) in Freetown.
Addressing the team from Ghana Water and VEI, the Chairman Board of Directors of Guma Valley Water Company, Hon. Mrs. Bintu Myers said she is very pleased to welcome them to Freetown to share ideas on how to improve water service delivery.
Hon. Myers said they as the present Board of Directors are very fortunate to have several projects and programs coming up during their tenure; “the effort and encouragement given by the Board to the Management to implement and complete these projects and programs will be the legacies we leave behind when we exit the doors of Guma”.
The Board Chairman added that some of their aims had always been to strengthen the human resource capacity at Guma and also improve on the water supply situation in the Western Area.
Giving an overview of the Company’s activities over the last 4 years, the Managing Director of Guma Valley Water Company, Ing. Maada Kpenge said under his leadership, the company has been able to increase access to water supply, improve on revenue generation, implement new tariff with good results, improve customer services and satisfaction, and reduce non-revenue water with submain extensions to the distribution system.
Ing. Kpenge informed the visiting team from Ghana Water and VEI about the near completion of the Freetown Water Supply Rehabilitation Project funded by the UK Government which has rehabilitated the Guma Dam, Treatment Plant, Transmission system and installed distribution meters to capture volume of water produced and distributed.
The Guma Managing Director spoke about the Freetown WASH and Aquatic Environment Revamping Project which he said is looking at developing smaller water sources and infrastructure around the Western Area Rural District communities and the Freetown Water Supply and Sanitation Master Plan Studies which have identified various interventions that will increase access to water supply in Freetown to 100%.
Ing. Kpenge informed that the cost of the various water supply projects ranges between $1.5 billion to $2.0 billion and that a donor conference will be held in September this year to showcase some of the projects with a view to attract investments.
The Managing Director of Guma Valley Water Company, Ing. Maada Kpenge expressed gratitude to Ghana Water Company Limited for the Learning and Twinning arrangement between the two sister utilities since December 2018. The Guma MD said his organization has benefitted a lot in terms of capacity building as over 30 staff have gone to Ghana Water on study tours since 2019 where they were exposed to the governance structures of Ghana water sector and operational systems.
On the EU-WOP Programme, “at the start, we were not sure how far this would go; but we put our best foot forward and we are proud that we succeeded at the end of the day”, Ing. Kpenge stated. The Guma MD expressed delight that the programme will be aiming at promoting service delivery to both urban and rural low-income households in the Western Area.
“Usually, utilities will cut costs to low-income communities as it is not profitable; but in our own case we cannot afford to do that. We want to bring service to everyone, whatever it takes. We are happy to be collaborating on this program to expand the scope of low-income service delivery and we will do everything possible to make it a success”, Ing. Kpenge concluded.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Managing Director of Ghana Water Company Limited, Dr. Clifford A. Braimah said they feel privileged to be part of the partnership; “In 2018, we came to Sierra Leone to see how we can partner with Guma. And it appears as if it is moving beyond our expectation, it is our prayers that it continues to grow”.
Dr. Braimah stated that Ghana’s vision for the water and sanitation sector is “sustainable basic water and sanitation service for all by 2025” which in detailed terms means “all people living in Ghana have access to adequate, safe, affordable and reliable basic water service, practice safe sanitation and hygiene and that water resources are sustainably managed”.
The Ghana Water Managing Director added that not all persons living in urban areas are rich as there are people living in the inner cities that are even poorer than those living in the rural areas; and hence there as on why the Low-Income Unit was needed to strategize and cater for the water needs of all.
He stated that because low-income households mostly lack water supply connections, they pay 4 or 5 times more to access water supply than the urban-rich. “Paying for new connections in one go is a big problem for the urban poor; that is why our Low-Income Community Support Department is subsidizing water supply connections for the poor and we want to see if they will be able to pay for the service going forward”.
Dr. Braimah said there are things that Ghana Water can learn from Guma to improve on its operations even though they have gained more experience in Low-Income community activities; “as long as we keep on talking to each other, we share ideas, we can begin to reduce the challenges we face through innovation”. The Managing Director of Ghana Water Company Limited said the doors of his organization are always opened to Guma and promised to keep the partnership going.
The meeting was climaxed with presentations done by Faustina Boachie, Chief Manager of the Low-Income Customer Support Department (GWCL) and Krijn Driessen, Project Manager (VEI) on the Program Modus Operandi and Budget Considerations respectively.