China govt creates 1,029 boreholes costing $20m in Ghana’s remote communities

The Government of China has handed over 1,029 boreholes it constructed across 10 regions of Ghana to the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources. Jiangxi Zhongmei Engineering Construction Company Limited is behind this project in the West African country with a huge investment amount of USD 20 million.

The aim of Chinese government is to boost accessibility to potable water by rural communities towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal-Six. The project was funded through a grant from the Chinese Government, under the Economic and Technical Corporation and Agreement signed in December 2015.

Out of the boreholes, 52 were fitted with electric pumps, 976 fitted with hand pumps and one solar-powered borehole at Asante Akyem North in the Ashanti Region. A regional breakdown of the boreholes is: Upper East 182, Upper West eight, Northern 155, Brong Ahafo 146, Ashanti 28, Western 148, Eastern 162, Central 10, Volta 148 and Greater Accra 13.

At the handing over ceremony held at Densusu near Suhum in Ghana’s Eastern Region, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Shi Ting Wang opined that the wells included hand pump boreholes and submersible pumps would supply over 500,000 remote communities and rural residents with clean and hygienic drinking water, and they appreciate the fast growing friendship and bilateral relationship growing between Ghana and China.

China aims to focus on eight major initiatives, which include industrial promotion, facility connectivity, trade facilitation, green development and capacity building in Ghana in the next three years.