Mr. Koroma disclosed that, the facility needs expansion and maintenance as it was built originally for about five hundred residents in Freetown; noting that currently there are about two million people residing in Freetown.
“The president in his wisdom wants to provide services for his people. He believes that the people of Sierra Leone should benefit from the resources of the country and water is life and fundamental to everything we do,” Koroma said when examining the dam.
Guma Valley according to Koroma was placed under the NCP to help attract private investment into the company for it to improve and be more efficient in dispensing services. He also disclosed that over the years, private investors have been coming and looking at the facilities.
“We want to make sure that in the coming years, every home in Freetown has sufficient water,” he said, adding that he is going to pay more attention to the company for it to attract investors in line with President Bio’s New Direction agenda.
The Deputy General Manager and engineer at GVWC, Raymond Williams, said the Mile 13 treatment center is the main water source to Freetown, and that the dam supplies water to about 95% of consumers around the Mile 13 area.
He said the dam was built in the 60s and commissioned in 1967 and has been used since to supply water to residents of Freetown.
The shortage of water in Freetown according Mr. Williams is due to the population rise in the city, noting that the dam was originally built for about five hundred people.
