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The government, through the support of its development partners, has spent $260 million on various water projects in the Ashanti Region. The projects, which included the Mampong , Kumawu, Konongo and New Edubiase Water projects, were meant to improve access to water in the region. In all, close to 1.8 million people were expected to benefit from the interventions. The Deputy Minister of Water Resource, Works and Housing, Mr. J. Osei Kofi, said this at the first regional Government for the People (G4P) forum held in Kumasi yesterday. Mr Osei said currently, 63 per cent of the Ghanaian population had access to potable water and the projection was to reach 76 per cent by 2016 and 100 per cent by 2050. The water projects, he said, would reduce water-borne diseases. He said human activities such as illegal mining (galamsey), illegal felling of trees and farming along the banks of water bodies were negatively affecting the quality of water in the country, particularly in the region. Mr Osei said when this happened, aside from putting the lives of people at risk, it also put a burden on the government to spend huge sums to treat the water to make it potable. He thus appealed to the people not to be indulging in such activities that sought to pollute the water bodies. The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Sarpong, said the region had witnessed many development projects and programmes which had, to a large extent, helped to bring about improvement in the living conditions of the people. In the educational sector, he said the government had spent about GH�153.75 million on infrastructural development in the region. He said the government had, over the years, built 868 classroom blocks, 14 dormitories, 13 hostels, 13 assembly halls, and 58 teachers� bungalows. Other projects undertaken included 13 dining halls, 14 ICT centres, fencing of 19 schools and building of 39 kindergarten blocks. In addition to this, the regional minister said four districts in the region, namely Sekyere Afram Plains, Adansi North, Obuasi Municipality and Bosomtwe, were beneficiaries of the first phase of the community day senior high schools (SHSs) being constructed by the government nationwide. In the health sector, he said the story had not been different as the government continued to pump resources into the sector to improve access to health care by the people. He said a total of GH�13.4 million had been invested towards making quality health care accessible to the people in the region. The money, he said, had been spent on the construction of 85 healthcare centres and Community Health Planning Services (CHPS) compounds, 32 doctors and nurses quarters, five children and maternity wards, and two districts health administration blocks, among other facilities. Currently, he said, there were four modern multipurpose district hospitals under construction at Bekwai, Tepa, Kumawu and Fomena. According to him, even though people in the region, like most Ghanaians everywhere, are faced with some development challenges, �Ashanti will continue to be the pacesetter in development with the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies(MMDAs) performing their expected roles as units of planning and development.� The forum was attended by various ministers, including the Minister of Education, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Dr Edward Omane-Boamah, Minister of Communication and his deputy, Mr Felix Ofosu Kwakye, and some district chief executives. It was to bring governance to the people and to create a platform for the people to seek answers to questions bothering them. It was on the theme: �People matter, you matter, everybody matters.� The government has held its regional Government for the People forum in Kumasi. The forum, which would be held in each regional capital, is to bring governance to the doorsteps of the people and give the citizens access to ministers and for them to ask questions on issues bothering them.