COVID-19: 78% of communities did not benefit from government’s free water – GSS

It has emerged that as much as 78 percent of communities in Ghana sampled did not benefit from the government’s free water initiative.

According to the COVID-19 Local Economies Tracker by the Ghana Statistical Service and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), these localities relied on alternative sources of water and were not served by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).

This meant the government’s free water did not make the expected impact.

Over 78 percent of localities sampled did not benefit from the free water supply while some 25 percent of targeted communities did not benefit from the subsidies on electricity.

For electricity, this is because these localities were not connected to the national grid, and for water, because localities relied on alternative sources of water and other than pipe-borne water and were not served by the GWCL.

Government has extended the free water supply to Ghanaians to the end of 2020.

Economic findings

Economically, about 72 percent of local businesses saw reductions in production and 90 percent of those in sales were hit.

Businesses faced labour shortages and high cost of credit during the lockdown.

Prices of almost all products also increased, with food and non-alcoholic beverages experiencing the highest price increase of 4.8 percent.