Protect water bodies for posterity- Ben Ampomah

The Acting Executive Secretary of the Water Resources Commission (WRC), Ben Ampomah, says access to potable water has become a challenge because of the extent to which the country’s water bodies have been polluted.

Speaking on Multi TV, he stated that the country had enough water in absolute terms but relatively challenged in distribution due to pollution.

"We do not have a problem with quantity, the issue has to do with the deteriorating quality of some river bodies especially in the western part of the country where we have Pra, Ankobra etc and illegal mining is coming up seriously, we need to confront that as a nation".

Ben Ampomah emphasized the need to harness the natural water bodies to meet the water needs of Ghanaians. He said uneven water distribution has affected the sanitation situation in the country.

“86 percent of Ghanaians do not have access to basic improved sanitation and 19 percent defecate in the open”, he said.

Head of policy and partnership at Water Aid, lbrahim Musah who was also on the show , called on communities and traditional leaders to sit up and control the degradation and pollution of water bodies especially through illegal mining activities.

"On occasions like world water day, we in civil society are not celebrating because there is little to celebrate. We are observing and reflecting on the challenge, calling on community leadership to help government mandated agencies to preserve the water bodies for posterity", he said.

He added that though policies and strategies to increase access to water are in place, their implementation remain a challenge due to financial constraints.

Ibrahim Musah called for an increased national purse allocation to the water sector