• GH¢836.82 is the total amount spent on the free water policy
• The free water policy began from April to December 2020
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has noted that a total of GH¢836.82 million was spent on the free water government gave to Ghanaians as part of measures to fight coronavirus.
The free water policy began from April 2020 to December 2020 and was later extended to June this year for lifeline domestic customers.
Ken Ofori-Atta while delivering the mid-year budget statement in Parliament, noted that 10 million dwellers were supplied with potable water by the Ghana Water Company Limited.
He said, “Mr Speaker, as part of the government’s social interventions for supply of free water under the COVID-19 initiatives, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources partnered Ghana Water Company Ltd (GWCL) and the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) to ensure the full realisation of the objective. The programme started in April 2020 and was supposed to have ended in December 2020...However, the government decided to extend it to June 2021 for domestic customers whose monthly consumption does not exceed five cubic metres."
“In all, over ten million urban dwellers were supplied with potable water by GWCL from April to December 2020. Currently, a total of over 2.30 million urban domestic dwellers whose monthly consumption does not exceed five cubic metres are benefiting from the programme. The cost of the programme to date is GH¢836.82 million,” he added.
The presentation of the budget was in accordance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution and the Public Financial Management Act 921.
It offers the opportunity to revise macroeconomic targets and provide a comprehensive economic outlook for the rest of the year.
