Water and sanitation project

The European Union has agreed to grant 92 billion cedi (US 1.4 million) to Ghana to support a water and sanitation initiative in three northern districts, an official in the EU office in Accra told IRIN on Tuesday. Some 50 hand-pumped wells and 425 boreholes would supply cleaner water to the populations of West Mamprusi, East Gonja and West Gonja. The fund would also be used to improve more than 2,000 existing sanitation facilities in the region. The initiative is expected to help eradicate Guinea worm, improve people's health and reduce poverty in the three districts, the EU said. The agreement was signed on Monday between Ghana's minister of finance, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, and the EU head of delegation, Alessandro Mariani. The four-year project is due to start in the second half of the year.