The first plant, the Kumasi Wastewater Treatment Plant (KWTP) at Adagya in the Ashanti Region has been completed, paving the way for its replication in other parts of the country.

Inaugurated last year, the 1,000 cubic metres of water per day facility is a collaboration between Pureco Kft and the JGC.

It has the capacity to serve over two million people in the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area.

In addition, it equally has the capacity to receive and treat 150 cesspit tanks of liquid waste daily.

Visit

The MoU was signed when the President of Hungary, Mr Janos Ader, who was on an official visit to the country, toured the Adagya plant last Saturday.

The Executive Chairman of the JGC, Mr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, signed for his group, while the Managing Director of Pureco Kft, Mr Balint Horvath, initialled for his company.

The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Ms Cecilia Dapaah, and the Hungarian Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Tamas Endre Feher, witnessed the signing.

Historic visit

President Ader and his delegation were conducted round the Adagya facility by Ms Dapaah, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Simon Osei-Mensah, and Mr Agyepong, who described the Hungarian President's visit to the plant as historic.

“Today marks a great milestone in Ghana-Hungary relations, as the JGC has an opportunity to welcome the President of Hungary, Mr Janos Ader, who is on a state visit to Ghana, accompanied by his wife, and an official delegation to the KWTP,” Mr Agyepong said.

According to him, the strengthening of business relations between Ghana and Hungary had brought loads of benefits to the private sector of both countries, especially after the visit to Ghana by the Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister, Mr Peter Szijjarto, in 2017.

Investment opportunity

Mr Agyepong said the JGC took advantage of the new investment opportunity opened between Ghana and Hungary, after Mr Szijjarto’s visit, to initiate a number of private sector business consultations with Hungary’s private sector companies.

“In the course of our deliberations, we established key partnerships with Pureco Kft, ANY Security Printing Plc and the Hungarian EXIM Bank," he disclosed.

That, he explained, was with the view to creating business opportunities that would help improve the lives of Ghanaians.

“Mr President, the outcome of one such technical consultation was the conclusion of an MoU between Pureco Kft and Zoomlion Ghana Limited for the construction of the KWTP.

“The plant, which Your Excellency is visiting today, was constructed by Pureco-Unit Consortium, a Hungarian private sector water and waste water technology leader. It is the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.

Assurance

Mr Agyepong gave an assurance that his outfit and its partners would ensure that the remaining regions benefited from the project, as a result of which the MoU had been signed.

"This is to enable the remaining 13 regions of Ghana which have no access to wastewater treatment plants, to also benefit from similar projects under the Pureco-JGC collaboration," he said.

Commendation

While praising the President Akufo-Addo administration for creating the enabling environment for players in the waste management space, Mr Agyepong also commended President Ader for deepening Hungary's relations with Ghana.

"Your Excellency, permit me to seize this opportunity to also thank you personally and your Hungarian government for making available to the JGC a Hungarian government EXIM facility to construct the plants,” he said.

Earlier, the President of Hungary had paid a courtesy call on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, at the Manhyia Palace.

He was in the company of his wife, Mrs Anita Herczegh.