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The Vision

In the heart of the Brong-Ahafo Province lies a visionary initiative that seeks to transform the lives of the people inhabiting the Sunyani Region. The Sunyani Region Water Supply Project is not just a water infrastructure endeavor; it is a commitment to providing safe, clean, and sustainable potable water to communities that will thrive and flourish for generations to come.

The Project

Covering an area of 45,000 hectares, the Sunyani Region Water Supply Project is designed to address the present and future water needs of the region. With an estimated population of 405,000 residents by 2040 and a projected water demand of 55,000 cubic meters per day (equivalent to 12 million gallons per day), this project stands as a testament to effective foresight and meticulous planning.

Phase 1 of the project, covering 36 months, focuses on essential groundwork. The plan includes:

• Drawing 57,750 cubic meters of water daily from the Tano River, upstream from the existing weir near Abesem.
• Construction of a cutting-edge water treatment plant capable of processing 55,000 cubic meters per day.
• Laying down a network of main transmission lines spanning 93.2 kilometers of HDPE pipes.
• Providing a storage capacity of 16,250 cubic meters.
• Establishing a distribution network with a total length of 130 kilometers using HDPE pipes.
• Installing 49 water fountains strategically across the area.
• Connecting administration buildings and 7,500 residential units to the water supply.

Phase 2, also spanning 36 months but commencing from month 12 to month 48, introduces significant infrastructure enhancements:

• The construction of a 21-meter-tall dam, spanning 1,000 meters along the Tano River, situated 3.5 kilometers North-East of Tanoso.
• Extending the distribution network, utilizing HDPE pipes over 210 kilometers.
• Installing an additional 147 water fountains.
• Expanding water connections to administration buildings and another 7,500 households.
  

The Impact

Beyond the intricate details, the Sunyani Region Water Supply Project is driven by a profound commitment to creating tangible, lasting impacts on the region’s inhabitants.

• Improved Living Standards: The project’s core objective is to ensure a constant, safe water supply for the communities it serves, thereby significantly enhancing the quality of life. Access to clean water is fundamental to sanitation, hygiene, and overall well-being.
• Health and Wellness: Safe water supply directly translates to improved health. Reduced waterborne diseases and improved sanitation practices can lead to a healthier populace, reducing healthcare burdens and enabling healthier lifestyles.
• Economic Growth: Reliable access to water is a cornerstone of economic development. The project sets the stage for new economic opportunities to flourish, potentially attracting investments, spurring entrepreneurship, and creating jobs.
• Sustainability and Technological Advancement: By incorporating cutting-edge water technologies, the project sets an example for responsible resource management. It highlights the importance of sustainable practices and the positive impacts of technology on communities.
• Capacity Building: The project not only serves the region but also contributes to building the capabilities of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) staff, ensuring that the system’s operations are efficient and effective.
• Social Empowerment: Access to water goes beyond necessities; it empowers individuals and communities. The project uplifts spirits and nurtures a sense of community pride.

The Sunyani Region Water Supply Project is not merely infrastructure; it is a catalyst for positive change. As it advances in two transformative phases, its impact ripples through time, leaving a legacy of progress, prosperity, and a brighter future for the people of the Sunyani Region.

The Vision

Water, the essence of life, remains a distant dream for over 850 million people worldwide, with a staggering 80% of them residing in rural communities. This sobering reality has sparked a visionary endeavor: the Daru Solar Powered Desalination Project. A groundbreaking collaboration between IAI and LR GROUP, this initiative seeks to harness sustainable technology to provide clean and safe potable water to the most remote corners of the globe.

The Challenges

Daru Island, nestled in one of the planet’s most isolated regions, grapples with chronic water shortages that plague its populace. Historically, water supply relied on diesel-powered pumps stationed on the mainland, initiating a logistical labyrinth of fuel delivery. Barrels of fuel embarked on a sea journey lasting weeks, from Port Moresby to Daru, eventually reaching the distant pumping station. The island’s aged water grid further compounded the challenges, fraught with technical glitches and mechanical issues. This multifaceted struggle translated into a lack of access to safe water and adequate sanitation facilities for Daru’s inhabitants.

The Project

Commissioned by the PNG Sustainable Development Program, LR GROUP embarked on a mission to engineer a holistic and sustainable water solution for rural communities, with Daru as the pilot. The result: a pioneering, self-reliant solar-powered desalination plant, an innovative achievement. This facility not only yields an average of 1,500 cubic meters (CM) of potable water daily but also showcases a scalable capacity of up to 2,000 CM.

At the heart of the system lies a state-of-the-art Photo Voltaic (PV) Power Supply System. This environmentally friendly alternative energy source provides uninterrupted energy for 24/7 water supply, dramatically curtailing the reliance on costly diesel and generators. The PV power generation system features cutting-edge module technology, featuring a capacity of 1 megawatt peak (MWp) solar panels and a 2.8 megawatt-hour (MWh) energy storage battery, delivering a remarkable 1.6 gigawatt-hours (GWh) annually. Designed with the future in mind, both the solar array and storage system are fully scalable to accommodate surges in water demand.

The Impact

The Daru Solar Powered Desalination Project is not just a technological breakthrough; it is a lifeline for the communities it serves. This pioneering initiative heralds an era of consistent, clean, and safe water supply for Daru’s residents, rendering the long and difficult journeys for water a thing of the past. The technology’s scalability ensures its potential to uplift other rural communities in dire need of clean water access. Beyond quenching thirst, this project fosters a healthier environment, empowering the residents to lead healthier, more dignified lives.

In a world where access to water is a fundamental right, the Daru Solar Powered Desalination Project stands as a beacon of hope, bridging gaps and driving progress in the realms of technology, sustainability, and human welfare.

In a transformative initiative set to reshape drinking water accessibility, the Sunyani Region Water Supply Project, spearheaded by the visionary LR Group, is on the cusp of realization. The project, aimed at revolutionizing the drinking water supply system in Sunyani, the regional capital of Bono in Ghana, has been given the green light to commence after a brief delay. This pioneering endeavor reflects LR Group’s commitment to driving positive change and addressing critical water challenges in the region.

Originally slated to commence in July 2022, the project encountered a temporary setback due to pending approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This approval delay led to a rescheduled start date, with the main earthworks now anticipated to commence this year. Francis Agyei-Boateng, the General Manager of Project Planning and Development at the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), confirmed the revised timeline.

At the forefront of this groundbreaking initiative, LR Group, renowned for its expertise in executing development projects, takes center stage. Underlining their dedication to the project’s success, LR Group is set to execute the first phase of the project, following an agreement inked with GWCL in November 2022. The company’s specialized expertise will drive the construction of a cutting-edge water intake system, poised to deliver a substantial 55,000 cubic meters (m3) of clean water per day.

As an integral part of this comprehensive water supply transformation, the project encompasses crucial components, including:

• Innovative Water Plant: LR Group will construct a state-of-the-art drinking water plant with a remarkable capacity of 55,000 m3 per day.
• Strategic Water Storage: The project involves the construction of both at-grade and elevated tanks, boasting a collective capacity of approximately 16,500 m3.
• Enhanced Distribution Infrastructure: To optimize water distribution, two booster stations and standpipes will be strategically established.
• Extensive Transmission Network: A network of transmission pipes spanning an impressive 93 kilometers will be laid down.
• Efficient Consumption Monitoring: The initiative includes the provision of 10,000 household meters to ensure effective water usage monitoring.
• Quality Assurance: Laboratories and chemical storage facilities will be built to maintain impeccable water quality standards.
• Sustainable Power: A dedicated power line will be constructed to meet the energy requirements of the entire facility.

The project’s completion is projected for November 2025, marking a pivotal milestone for the region. Beyond the confines of Sunyani Municipality, the project’s positive impact will extend to various communities, including Chiraa, Fiapre, Nsoatre, Mantukwa, Dumasua, Odomase, Kwatire, and neighboring areas. The project’s scope also encompasses Tanoso, Techire, Yamfo, Susuanso, Adrobaa, Afrisipakrom, and adjacent regions within the Tano North municipality of the Ahafo region.

With a substantial financial commitment of approximately EUR 133.3 million from the Ghanaian government, the project underscores the nation’s resolute dedication to overcoming water scarcity challenges and ensuring sustainable access to clean water for its populace. As the initiator of this monumental endeavor, LR Group is pioneering a brighter future for Ghana by addressing water accessibility on a significant scale.

“I am proud that Israeli technologies and expertise are being introduced to the Philippines and will contribute to the country’s food security and agricultural productivity. This is just the beginning of Israel and the Philippines’s agri-adventure on agriventures,” Israel Ambassador Ilan Fluss said. 

The agribusiness arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) in another partnership with Israel-based LR Group will be investing around P800 million to P1 billion in a vegetable greenhouse facility. The company announced its plan to build the largest vegetable greenhouse facility in the Philippines.

On Monday, February 20, MPIC and LR Group held a groundbreaking ceremony for Metro Pacific Fresh Farms (MPFF), which aims to produce over 1,200 metric tons of high-quality vegetables all year round. That said, the project would already compromise an entire value chain that includes seedlings production, vegetable cultivation, sorting, packaging and even marketing of the goods.

The 22-hectare facility will feature a complex of sustainable greenhouses using modern farming technologies, which would need 90% less water, 90% less land and 90% to 99% less fertilizers and pesticides. At the same time, these methods would also trim crop cycle time.

This investment into the sector was done alongside Innovative Agriculture Industry Ltd., an affiliate of an Israeli partner, LR Group. This is the second time that MPIC and LR Group collaborated up, as the first was under a dairy partnership. 

“By introducing advanced technology and best practices, productivity and quality are set to increase, resulting in better income and welfare for local residents,” President of IAI, Ilan Weiss said.

The move came as the country’s food security woes came into clear view as supply chain problem stoke a multi-year high inflation. The LR Group has been visible in the agriculture sector since 1985, having undertaken projects involving farming, greenhouse, poultry, and dairy. 

 “We share the same values with MPIC and MPAV in terms of maximizing what their country has to offer primarily in land, natural resources and skills, and in turn helping their local communities thrive,” LR Group co-founder and CEO Ami Lustig said.

Teaming up with Metro Pacific Dairy Farms (MCIP), using our modern technology in agriculture, we are able to launch dairy facility to boost Philippines dairy production.

This joint venture present a significant growth opportunity for MPIC and the Philippines, as the country currently imports 99 percent of its annual dairy requirements. Our aim is to build a world class and modernized increase in the country’s fresh quality milk production and to reduce the amount of imports of the Philippines milk supply targeting to meet 20 percent of the country’s daily demand.

Laguna is expected to produce 6.5 million liters of fresh milk a year. There will be an initial capacity of up to 2,000 cows where, therefore, it will have an initial of 1,000 cows, which will undergo regular health monitoring to ensure quality milk.

The farm facility will also have highly mechanized and automated operations to maximize fresh milk’s shelf life, which will ensure adherence to quality and safety standards. It will also be equipped with solar farms that will produce power for the dairy facility, a water treatment plant that will provide human-grade drinking water for the cattle, and a waste management facility that will allow the facility to produce fertilizer.
Apart from locally produced fresh milk, there will also have processing plant capabilities to produce other milk-derivative products such as low-fat milk, chocolate milk, yogurt and other popular dairy products for the local market.

The construction of the facility will start in 2023 and take approximately two years to finish, while commercial operation is projected to commence by late 2025 to early 2026.

Apart from ramping up the Philippine dairy industry, MPDF also plans to solidify a relationship with local corn farmers for the cattle feed rations. It also aims to be a future training facility for future farmers and experts in agriculture, in partnership with academic entities.

“Our investment in agriculture is synonymous to food security and substantial independence, but will ultimately become a means of alleviating hunger in our country – a pressing issue that we have taken as a challenge to address,” MPIC chairman, president and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

MPIC earlier said it was ramping up investments in the agriculture sector to help reduce the country’s dependence on food imports amid ongoing global supply chain disruptions and high inflation.

The LR Group is honored to form a joint venture with Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), which is one of Guyana’s leading companies. The project is for the development of a dairy farm for 500-milking cow’s and the transfer of modern Israeli agro-technologies. This venture is intended to strengthen high quality dairy production in Guyana while reducing reliance on imports and contributing to the revitalization and modernization of Guyana’s agriculture sector. The annual milk production will increase yearly, due to proper culling.

We are excited at the launch of this project, which LR Group regards as the first step towards broader cooperation with Guyana, in the areas of commercial agriculture, water supply, renewable energy, healthcare and more.

The LR Group, the Ministry of Health and Beilinson Hospital are equipping medical teams in the city of Yangzhou, China, to deal with medical emergencies.

This month, online training of Chinese medical teams in the field of emergency preparedness began as part of a cooperation agreement signed several years ago between the Israeli and Chinese governments (G2G). The agreement states that Israel will assist in preparing the Chinese health system for emergencies. The LR Group was selected to serve as an integrator for the Israeli government in the emergency preparedness project in the city of Yangzhou, China, which has a population of approximately 5 million.

This is a large-scale project, which will last between 3-5 years and will be carried out in several stages and is later expected to expand to other cities in China. The aim of the project is to bring Israeli knowledge and reduce the gaps in the level of readiness in the field of health. In preparation for the project, a delegation from the Ministry of Health visited the city of Yangzhou to assess the readiness of the city’s hospitals for emergencies. During the visit, the gaps in the preparedness of the health system of the city of Yangzhou were identified, following which a report was submitted to the heads of state with recommendations for improvement and an action plan for their implementation.

This project is a significant milestone in the implementation of the collaboration that combines Israeli expertise, technologies and information systems in the field of emergency preparedness.

Beilinson Hospital was selected by the LR Group and the Israeli Ministry of Health to lead the first phase of the project. The first phase includes training medical staff to respond to a conventional multi-casualty events and training in emergency response and hospital preparation. The training will be provided by Beilinson medical teams, as well as medical teams from the Ministry of Health, MDA, Tel Aviv University and other hospitals (Schneider, Haemek, Rambam).

The project is a continuation of the LR Group’s extensive activities in the field of health in the world and in China in particular. The group has been operating in China for a number of years, and is establishing projects whose main purpose is to make Israeli knowledge and methodologies accessible to hospitals and medical professionals throughout China.

Yaki Zinger, VP of Business Development and Director of Health at LR Group: “This month we started the first practical phase which includes training medical staff in responding to a multi-casualty incident, building emergency response plans and preparing hospitals in Yangzhou city in China. The LR Group is proud to lead this important project that expresses exceptional cooperation between the Government of Israel and the Government of China in the field of medicine. We are pleased that the Israeli Ministry of Health has chosen the LR Group to carry out this project in collaboration with the leading medical institutions in Israel. “

On May 16th 2019, LR group’s affiliate signed a contract with the Industrial Promotion Fund (FPI) for the Rehabilitation, Modernization and Operation of the DAIPN poultry farm, as part of the 100 days emergency program of the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi.

The farm had seen no production for over 10 years and was transformed into a training camp for police. In June 2019, LR Group started monitoring the rehabilitation and modernization work, and despite great logistical difficulties the group completed the work on the farm by April 2020, in less than one year. Works on the farm included the renovation of electricity, water supply, rehabilitation of all the buildings and the establishment of a sanitary block and offices.

Operation of the project began after 3 months of construction and ended at the end of August 2020, a year of operation as part of the first phase agreement. The operational phase included overall knowledge transfer ensuring sustainable production and the necessary training and support for the 50 employees at DAIPN Lukelenge farm.

Having completed stage one, DAIPN Lukelage currently produces 72 tons of broilers per year, 7,500 laying hens and 2.5 million eggs collected by automated collection system.

According to François Mpuila, deputy director of studies at the Industry Promotion Fund (FPI) and coordinator of the DAIPN Lukelenge Rehabilitation project, the second phase of the project aims to double production quantities to 5 million eggs and 140,000 chickens.

A feed mill will be established and additional land allocated for the production of poultry feed reducing the steep production costs of the produce significantly.

LR Group continues to work closely with rural communities, making most of their resources and skills to improve livelihoods and achieve lasting economic growth and food security.

LR Group Rehabilitates DAIPN Lukelenge DRC Video

Ami Lustig, Co-founder and CEO of LR group, presents LR Groups solutions for Food Security at Improvate’s International Food Security conference. Improvate, a platform for connecting government and innovation companies sets out to unite change makers in technology with leaders in governing positions. The conference hosted by Keynote speaker Tony Blair former Prime Minister of UK and founder of the “The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change” brought together Agriculture Ministers from five African Countries: Ethiopia, Tanzania, Congo, Kenya and Swaziland with leading agro technology companies from Israel.

The LR Group was one of several Israeli companies presenting solutions on how to tackle Food Security challenges and how to improve the quality of agriculture as a major source of food for Africa and the world.

Ami Lustig presents LR Group solutions at the conference

LR Group closes a deal with Yangzhou, China, in cooperation with the Israeli Health Ministry. The agreement is to offer the Chinese city the best Israeli talents in technology and data operation systems. These will be used to improve its readiness for large-scale emergency situations such as earthquakes. The agreement was signed by Ami Lustig, Co-founder and CEO of the LR Group, Yangzhou Mayor Zhang Baojuan, Health Ministry director-general Itamar Grotto and Hagai Dror, managing director of the ministry’s healthcare branch.

LR Group serves as the Israeli government’s integrator in China and is part of Government-to-Government (G2G) agreements Jerusalem has with Beijing.

Jerusalem Post full article