Denmark has pledged to mobilise more resources to support Ghana to undertake strategic projects in water and waste management sector to boost the West African country’s climate resilience.
The two countries in 2019 signed a Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC) agreement aimed at improving water supply and wastewater management in the Tema Municipality and create a more effective maritime sector in Ghana.
Mr Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy, pledged additional funding to address critical wastewater management challenges when he toured the Tema Municipality on Saturday.
The purpose of the tour was to witness the problems in Tema at first hand ahead of the implementation of the second phase of the SCC agreement and implement measures to make the industrial city climate resilient.
Mr Jørgensen, together with Mr Yohane Amarh Ashietey, Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, unveiled a mural at the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) to mark the successful implementation of the first phase of the cooperation from 2019 to 2023.
The second phase of the Cooperation agreement, which would be implemented from 2024 to 2026, was signed in October this year.
The agreement was signed between the Tema Metropolitan Assembly and the city of Aarhus, Denmark, as well as the Ghana Water Company Ltd (GWCL) and the Aarhus Vand A/S, the Danish water management company.
The second phase of the cooperation agreement is expected help to reduce non-revenue water, build local capacity and roll out a climate adaptation plan, which was developed in the first phase of the cooperation agreement.
It is estimated that Ghana would require between US$ 9.3 and US$ 15.5 billion of investment to undertake climate interventions from the year 2020 to 2030 – and access to clean water is one of the critical areas being prioritised by the Government.
Mr Jørgensen was worried about the biological death of the Chemu Lagoon because of lack of proper wastewater management from industrial sources – turning the lagoon into an environmental health threat.
He told journalists after the tour that Denmark was exploring the possibility of finding additional resources to support Ghana address the environmental challenges identified.
“A lot of progress has been made. A lot of people are getting clean water every day as a result of this project. But it is also clear that there are still a lot of challenges.
“We from Danish side will help as much as we can, and we are also looking at possibilities of finding even more resources in future because you can see behind me there is really a lot to do.
“Water needs to be cleaned and the efficiency of the water needs to be better,” Mr Jørgensen said.
Mr Ashietey said the first phase of the project had helped the TMA to build the capacity of its engineers who work on wastewater to fix some of the problems in the city internally.
“We have developed the Climate Adaptation and Wastewater Management Plan. This is a framework which has been passed by the Assembly and we are following the framework to ensure that Tema becomes a climate resilient city,” he said.
GNA