Volta River is safe for domestic and industrial use - Water Commission

The Water Resources Commission says the Volta River is safe for domestic and industrial use.

The Commission has, however, cautioned that annual floods in the Volta river is a problem.

Reacting to this, the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Dapaah called for a proactive approach to dealing with issues of the Volta River, even though its current status is good.

She was speaking at the 9th Meeting of Experts Committee of the Volta Basin Authority in Accra

The Committee of experts of the Volta Basin Authority is made up of Six countries who benefit from the Volta river.

They are Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Mali and Togo.

Speakers at the forum reiterated the importance of the Volta River to their respective countries, which include the development of energy, And a source of livelihood to farmers and fishers among others.

One of the major concerns raised at the meeting was the issue of transboundary pollution of the Volta river.

The Executive Secretary of the Water Resources Commission Ben Ampomah said the volta river in its current state is safe.

“The volta comparatively is okay in terms of quality and quantity. Others rivers, unfortunately, have been polluted by illegal mining but the Volter river is fairly good in terms of quality”

Meanwhile, the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources Cecelia Dapaah called for a proactive approach to deal with issues of the Volta river is the best.

“We have to look at ways we can protect the Volta river against contamination and degradation. If everything is well then thanks be to God but if we are doing wrong somewhere we need to correct it. We don’t have to wait until negative things have. We should be proactive yo prevent negative things from happening to the Volta river”

Ghana is hosting the Committee of Experts on the Volta Basin Authority for the 3rd time, after hosting them in 2007 and 2009.

The committee meets biannually to brainstorm on ways to preserve and protect the Volta River to ensure all 6 countries benefit from it sustainably.