Ghana's need for more drinkable water supplies has proved an opportunity for Zhang Deliang as he heads a project that will improve the lives of millions

Construction projects in Africa can be long and arduous. Often, they are fraught with problems and mountains of work. For Zhang Deliang they also mean long periods away from his wife and daughter. But the 39-year-old managing director of China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd's Ghana branch is nevertheless happy in his job and expects to be working on the continent for years to come.

Zhang is in charge of construction on the Kpong water supply expansion project, a Ghanaian government plan to improve the water supply to Accra, capital of Ghana, and the surrounding area.

The work began in June 2011 and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2014. It will deliver 40 million gallons of water per day to the region.

This is Zhang's second stint in Africa. He worked before in Equatorial Guinea for two years on three water projects - a sewage treatment plant, a rainwater harvesting system and a water supply distribution network in Malabo - beginning in 2009.

"This is my first project in Ghana and also my company's first project in Ghana," he says. "We are transmitting drinking water from here - the Volta reservoir - to Accra. The distance is 73.5 kilometers."

According to Ghana statistical services, about 46 percent of the country's population live in urban areas. Daily supply of drinking water in urban areas is 142 million gallons per day, while the demand is 242 million gallons, leaving a shortfall of 100 million gallons.

Ghana's Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing has set a target for 78 percent of the population to have drinking water by 2015, with a focus on cities.

To win the contract, Gezhouba spent five years in negotiations with the Ghanaian government and helped it to apply for a loan from a Chinese bank.

"Ghana has rich water resources that can benefit local people by building dams, water purification plants, reservoirs and irrigation systems," he says. "However, more than 35 percent of the Ghana people don't have access to clean water in the nation's capital because of low-efficiency water supplies. Providing sufficient drinkable water has become a priority for the Ghanaian government."

Unclean water supplies, caused by old pipelines and purification equipment, is a cause of cholera, dysentery and other fatal diseases prevalent in Ghana.

"What we are doing here is to provide clean water for Ghanaians," says Zhang. "The goal of this project is to meet the water usage demands of 3 million people in the Accra area by 2015."

When construction began in 2010, the first hurdle was teaching some of the company's Ghanaian workers about site safety, Zhang says. Instead of wearing their safety helmets they used them as seats or bowls.

Zhang appointed two supervisors to make sure the helmets were used correctly and arranged work safety classes every Monday afternoon. If any Chinese or Ghanaian employee fails to attend a class, they get a warning and are required to make up the lessons.

Zhang, who is from Yichang, Hubei province, and majored in civil engineering at Xi'an Jiaotong University in Shaanxi province, says working in Ghana is tougher than his previous job for a hydropower project in Iran from 2003 to 2006.

Despite the difficulties, he enjoys being here because of the beautiful landscapes and friendly people, he says.

"To work in this industry you need to stay in different locations for long periods. Most of these construction sites are tough places and you need a hardworking spirit, otherwise you are not able to finish the job," says Zhang, who goes back to China twice a year, a month each time, to see his wife and teenage daughter.

Water in Accra is currently served by the Kpong Water Treatment Plant, with a 54-km pipeline from Kpong that was built in 1966. It is unable to meet water demand in the capital city.

In addition to constructing a new reservoir, Zhang's team is responsible for providing building materials and for building water purification plants, water pipelines, a pump station and improving water distribution channels.

Sitting in a small meeting room on the construction site near Volta reservoir, Zhang says this is a loan project, not an aid project. The whole package will cost $273 million, with 5 percent coming from the Ghanaian government and the rest from the China Export-Import Bank.

During busy periods there are 700 Ghanaians and 120 Chinese employees working on the Kpong project. All the building materials used in the project are bought locally. Wages, accommodation, food and other services cost the company about $2.7 million per month. It has also brought $22 million worth of construction machinery into Ghana for the project.

"Some Western media say that Chinese companies in Africa have no interest in communicating and helping local people whatsoever, which is not true," says Zhang. "We have made a contribution to the local community with concrete steps, which are not included in the contract.

"To help people acquire more skills, we have helped 630 Ghanaian employees get training in different types of construction work, have promoted 13 experienced Ghanaian workers to be team leaders, and hired 10 local business graduates to work in our head office in Accra."

The Chinese company has also donated $130,000 to three local schools and the University of Ghana to buy computers, multimedia teaching equipment and books, and built a 10-km road connecting four villages along the pipeline.

Zhang will make more trips to Africa when the project is done. He says there is room for new infrastructure projects in West Africa and hopes Gezhouba finds opportunities in other countries on the continent.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/29/2013 page22)