Alternatives to water quality water a challenge - Bagbin.

Tarkwa, March 24, GNA - Mr Alban S. K. Bagbin, Minister for Water Resources Works and Housing, has observed that it has become extremely difficult to implement viable solutions that are sustainable to address challenges that confront water quality in the country. He said though several international and local institutions had tried their best, the effect of a collective failure to tackle the problem would make it impossible for many to have access.

These were contained in a statement read on his behalf at the celebration of this year's World Water Day at Tarkwa on Monday. It was on the theme "Clean Water for a Healthy World". He said inspite of these challenges the provision of safe drinking water for the people of Ghana remained a priority of government. Mr. Bagbin said it was time to intensify advocacy efforts and implement realistic policies that would make water accessible and available for all. He explained that water was critical for sustainable development, which include environmental integrity, poverty and hunger alleviation and promoting good health.

Mr. Paul E. Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, in an address read on his behalf, said illegal mining activities, coupled with the disposal of mining- related waste into streams at Tarkwa, Prestea, Awaso and Bogoso, among others, need a critical approach to solve.

He said the deteriorating water quality was a critical challenge that required the efforts of the entire nation to reverse and appealed to Ghanaians to work hard to improve water quality, prolong health and life. Mr Ben Amponmah, Executive Secretary of the Water Resources Commission (WRC), said there was the need for Ghanaians to adopt modern preservation and conservation practices to safeguard the country's water stock. Mr Martin Njisse, CEO of Ghana Water Company and Aqua Vittens Rand, said the lack of adequate monitoring led to encroachment on water bodies and that this had contributed to the poor water quality in several parts of the country.

He said pollutants from mining communities and farming along natural water sources were likely to cause desertification and the drying up of many water sources.

Mr Njisse said industrial waste, and the construction of residential facilities at water sources were also major challenges that needed to be addressed, adding that it cost 10 per cent more to treat polluted water from the Weija dam as compared to water treated at Kpong and other areas. In a message read on his behalf, Mr. Clement Bugase, acting Chief Executive Officer of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), said water storage facilities should be thoroughly washed to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases.

He said it was important for the country to protect the few water sources it presently had, to safeguard them for the future. "Water quality issues should not be relegated to the background but must be made a major agenda in all development interventions", he stressed. Mr Bugase, therefore, appealed for more resources to be made available for the improvement of water quality for the people of Ghana. A statement from the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Kin Moon, said water was indispensable but was now vulnerable and threathened. It stated that the daily disposal of millions of tons of untreated sewage, industrial and agricultural waste into water systems was a matter of concern.

"More people die from unsafe water than from violence, and these deaths are an affront to our common humanity and undermine the development potential of many countries."