First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo on Thursday visited the Lavender Hill Sludge Treatment Project in Accra to familiarize herself with the project.
She pledged her support for current activities ongoing at the plant.
The First Phase of the Lavender Hill project which is a partnership between the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and Danida is being constructed with a USD 2.8 million Danida fund.
The land for the project was provided by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.
According to the First Lady, she is confident phase two of the project which will be supported with 4.3 million Euros from the Netherlands government will contribute significantly to sewage treatment and sanitation in Accra.
“I promised to come over and I have seen what is being done here. I believe we have to do something to get things running quickly. As the president said he wants Accra to be the cleanest city in West Africa and so I will do all I can to pressurize the Mayor so we can get things going.”
On their part, the Denmark Ambassador to Ghana Tove Degnbol called on the first lady to help resolve some challenges hindering the complete implementation of the project. According to her, access to water and electricity was of major concern as; the Accra Metropolitan Assembly has not kept adequate measures in place to address these issues.
“We have been working with AMA but we still have some outstanding issues, concerning provision of water to this plant, power to the plant is also AMA’s responsibility which they acknowledge and AMA also needs to ensure that there are staff at the gate to charge the fee from the truckers when they come to deposit the sewage. When all these issues are addressed, we will be more confident of the smooth operation of this plant.”
The Mayor for Accra, Hon. Adjei Sowah who was present on the tour said the challenges were well noted and will be addressed by the metropolis within the shortest possible time. According to him, AMA was also committed to the fight, and struggle to make Ghana’s capital the cleanest city in West Africa.
The entourage also included the Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, Ron Strikker, who assured of his country’s support and commitment for the second phase of the project.
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By: Felicia Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana