US$30 million Yendi Water Supply Project takes off

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has cut the sod for construction of the Yendi Water Supply Project, in fulfilment of a pledge he made to Yaa-Na Mahama Abukari II at the 2019 Damba Festival.

The water supply project, which is being financed by a $30 million facility from India’s Exim Bank, aims to provide the people of Yendi Municipality and its environs with 15,000 cubic metres of water daily to meet the water demand from now till the year 2040.

Cutting the sod for the project on Wednesday 29 July 2020, President Akufo-Addo announced that the areas earmarked to benefit from the project, upon completion, include Yendi, Ghani (Ngani), Sambu, Adobo, Sokoli, Nakpachei, Gbungbalaga and Kuga.

“Ya-Naa Mahama Abukari II, when I told you that ‘great days lie ahead of Dagbon’, this is what I meant, as this project signals the beginning of infrastructural development for Yendi. And, as you know by now, when Akufo-Addo makes a promise, he keeps it,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo said it has been 59 years since the construction of the original Yendi water supply system, which took its raw water source from the River Daka.

“Since its construction, it has not undergone any rehabilitation work, and it is no longer capable of satisfying the water needs of Yendi and its environs,” the president said. “Additionally, because of the considerable increase in population and economic growth, it has become necessary to construct a new water supply system to meet the water demands of Yendi and its adjoining towns and communities.”

President Akufo-Addo assured residents of Yendi, and, indeed, all Ghanaians, that the government remains unwavering in its commitment to protecting the country’s water bodies, which serve as sources of potable water for the Ghanaian people.

“We continue to wage war against and intensify our resolve to curb the activities of illegal miners (galamseyers), sand winning and farming along the banks of our water bodies, which lead to their pollution,” he said.

Thanking the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making available, through the Indian Exim Bank, the financing for the Yendi Water Supply Project, he said it is a “good testimony of the strong bonds of co-operation and collaboration that exist between our two countries. Long may it continue.”

The president urged the contractor, Messrs WAPCOS Ltd of India, to complete the project on schedule, and help deliver potable water to the beneficiary communities. The impact of the new water system will be immense for the people of Yendi and its surrounding towns, he said.

Concluding, the President thanked the Ya-Naa “for the gracious gesture and honour of conferring the chieftaincy title Dagbon Malti Naa Abudani I on me, and I promise you that I will do my best to live up to the title”.

Click on the link below to listen to President Akufo-Addo.

Wilberforce Asare / Asaase Radio

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