The Manager of the Upper East Regional Water Supply project, Madam Annelies De Beule, says, work on the first phase of the new water treatment plant at Tono in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality is 96 percent complete.

The project, which started in 2018 and is expected to be operational in September 2021, was financed by the Ghana and Dutch governments.

It consists of two phases, the contract sum for the first phase is 33,250,000 EUR while the second phase which started on January 12, 2021, and expected to be completed in 12 months, was also at a contract sum of 6,205,43121 EUR.

She said the treatment plant had a pumping station and raw water transmission pipeline and when completed would have the capacity to produce 20.500 cubic metres of water per day "The handing over is scheduled for the end of October 2021," she added.

Madam De Beule said this when she showed Mr Amidu Chinnia Issahaku, the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, and Mr Stephen Yakubu, the Regional Minister round the facility.

The Deputy Minister was on a working visit to the Region to inspect ongoing works on water projects at Tono and Zuarungu in the Bolgatanga East District, and visited the old water treatment plant at Vea in the Bongo District.

The Project Manager said the rehabilitation of the existing Vea water treatment plant would continue after the Tono treatment plant was fully operational.

She said a total of 67 kilometres (km) of the main transmission lines to the Navrongo, Bolgatanga, Tindonmolgo, and Paga were equally completed, "18km of distribution lines have been installed under this phase, with one elevated reservoir at the Navrongo District Assembly (DA), with a capacity of 600 metre square.

"A booster pumping station to Paga is also constructed at the DA. All existing reservoirs in the system have been rehabilitated," Madam De Beule said.

On the second phase of the project, she said it was 69 per cent complete, and would consist of a nine kilometre transmission line to Zuarungu, an upgrade of the connection to Bongo, 53 kilometres of distribution lines, one elevated reservoir at Zuarungu of 400 metre square, and the installation of 4800 house connections.

Speaking to journalists after his tour of the projects, the Deputy Minister said work done on the project so far had massively progressed, and called on the Contractors to ensure the project would be handed over within the time frame.

Mr Issahaku said the project would benefit a total of about 350,000 residents in the Region.

The Regional Minister on his part said, "As a Region, we are very happy that we have such a huge project that has come to us. The entire Region will have good drinking water and we are happy.

He allayed fears of residents that there would not be disruption in the water supply as work progressed, and thanked the sector Ministry and Deputy Minister for his visit.