The Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU) has warned government to undertake an investigation into the construction of the Teshie desalination water plant.
The union claims that years after the construction of the plant, it is yet to be fully productive. It, therefore, urged government to investigate the public officials who negotiated the agreement to ascertain whether the Ghana Water company limited has been shortchanged.
According to them, there has been a case of a joint conspiracy between foreign investors, local corroborators and some public officials to create, loot and share. In a statement signed by the general secretary of PUWU, Michael Adum Atta, the union asked government and the minister of finance to as a matter of urgency probe the negotiations behind the construction of the plant and deal with any culprits.
In April 2015, the $126 million plant was commissioned to process sea water into potable water for consumers in Teshie Nungua and surrounding areas.
It serves 500,000 people with an estimated 13 million gallons or 60,000 cubic meters of water per day.
The viability of the plant has been called into question and a committee was constituted by the Akufo-Addo government to review the Teshie Desalination plant project, which is said to be costing GWCL GHc 6 million a month.
GWCL was making payments of GHc 8 million a month to the financiers of the project, although it makes only about GHc 2 million supplying the treated water from the plant.
The losses incurred could be as high as GHc 9 million, according to the Ghana Water Company Board Chair, Alex Afenyo-Markin.
Meanwhile, the said plant has been out of operation for some weeks as a result of technical challenges thus interrupting water supply for residents in Teshie and Nungua environs.
The Public Relations Officer of GWCL, Stanley Martey said, “We have a few challenges with the plant. We are trying to resolve it. But what we are doing now is to supply water to Teshie and Nungua from the Tema area, so we supply them three times a week to ameliorate the situation.  Currently, there is water in Teshie, but it isn’t flowing 24-7 as hitherto it was.â€
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