A cooperation agreement has recently been signed between the municipality of the Ghanaian city of Tema, located in the south-east of the country, and Aarhus, a city in Denmark. It concerns the thorny issue of wastewater management.
The Tema municipality on the Atlantic coast in southeast Ghana wants to draw inspiration from the Aarhus experience. A delegation from Tema’s Executive Council has completed a four-day visit to the Danish city of Aarhus, nestled on the east coast of the Jutland Peninsula. Both cities are port cities and wastewater treatment must provide a better living environment for their respective populations, but above all to prevent them from polluting rivers and the sea.
Aarhus is well ahead of Tema where wastewater treatment remains a real challenge. The objective of the locality of this Ghanaian City was therefore to sign a cooperation agreement with Aarhus. “Our lakes and lagoons are highly polluted due to the lack of effective wastewater treatment, but if you look at the rivers, lakes and lagoons of Aarhus, you will not see any highly polluted water, because there is effective wastewater treatment,” says Felix Mensah Nii Anang, Executive Director of the Tema Metropolitan System.
Prospects for cooperation
The delegation from Tema took advantage of the trip to Aarhus to visit facilities, including a “modern” wastewater treatment plant. Tema officials visited several world-renowned water companies such as Kamstrup, AVK Group and Grundfos, better known in Africa for their drinking water installations.
“Tema is a city on the move. They have a big port. They are the gateway to Ghana and the rest of Africa. We can use Tema as a springboard for cooperation with other African countries, which also represents an interesting potential for private companies in Aarhus and the region,” says Jacob Bundsgaard, Mayor of Aarhus. He said he was available to provide advice and guidance on wastewater treatment in the Ghanaian city of Tema.
Jean Marie Takouleu
