Management of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) says the desalination plant at Teshie was shut down as part of regular maintenance works.
In 2011, the Government of Ghana awarded a contract to Befesa Desalination Development Ghana for the establishment of the sea water treatment plant to produce potable water for residents.
Over the period, residents of Teshie and its environs have called for the shutdown of the plant, lamenting that the water produced was not wholesome.
The plant had been shut down a number of times with the recent one being yesterday, Wednesday.
Speaking in an interview, Head of Communication at the Ghana Water Company Limited, Stanley Martey said the desalination plant needs regular maintenance to work at full capacity.
“That project is working, it is functioning but if it comes to a point where we have to shut down for let’s say, maintenance, or something else, why can’t we shut it down. It is not only this plant. We start all our system shutdowns when we have to. All our system runs are one point or the other shut down for maintenance. For instance, if there is maintenance to be done at a certain plant and we have to shut down, we shut down. In times past we shut down the Kyebi plant almost every year because of deterioration of the water. So, it is not just about the detour,” he explained.
He however failed to state when the plant would be re-opened.
Mr. Martey also justified the recent increments in water tariffs saying Ghanaians need to be paying more than the 2.22 percent approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).
“Based on our calculations, we ought to be paying more, because in 2014, the government came out with the policy to lend loans to us. So, if you put everything together, the cost of production per one cubic metre of water should be around GHc20. Now if we get rid of all our loans then the cost of production should be around GHc13 per cubic metre. Now the PURC in its wisdom gave us 6 cedis per cubic metre. So, every cubic metre of water produced and sold we use almost 100%.”