General Secretary of the Public Utilities Workers Union (PUWU), Michael Nyantakyi, has described the Accra Desalination Plant that supplies water to residents of Teshie, Nungua and its environs as useless.
He said if the project is not generating any income for the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), they should at least break even.
‘’If there is a project like this, at least, it should generate something for the GWCL but there have been yearly losses upon losses which render it economically useless’’ he said on Dwaso Nsem.
According to him, he is excited that the project is finally going to be shut down to safe government from the cost incurred every month.
However, former Deputy Minister of Water, Works and Housing, Sampson Ahi blamed the Management of the GWCL for the plants predicament, saying GWCL has reduced the running of the project to politics.
He asserted that government did not spend any money in the establishment of the project since it was a “build, operate and transfer” arrangement.
Mr. Ahi said the plant was supposed to provide 60,000 cubic litres of water daily but it has been operating under capacity, producing only 17,000 cubic litres resulting in losses instead of profit.
He explained that the project was intended to feed industries in Tema and its enclave, making the current household consumption arrangement only peripheral.
He attributed the failure to construct the necessary pipes to the industries as being responsible for the household supplies the plant is engaged in.
“The project was estimated to rake in 9.7 million Ghana Cedis monthly but is currently making only 2.7 million due to the drastic fall in the cubic litres produced”, he noted.
According to him, the project was approved by parliament because of the revenue it was supposed to generate for the country but the GWCL’s failure to construct the supposed pipes to the industrial hub within the Tema enclave is what has caused the entire problem.
The Sehwi Bodi MP says he totally disagrees with the decision to shut down the plant because of its revenue generation capacity if managed well.
He admonishes the stakeholders to resolve the challenges confronting them to resuscitate the project than to close it down.
Source: Felix Anim-Appau/Adom News
PUWU describes Teshie Desalination Plant as “useless”
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