Water tanks to be positioned to serve hard-to-reach areas - Minister

The Government has announced its preparedness to position water tanks at vantage points in urban and rural areas to serve communities facing difficulties in accessing water.

It is also engaging tanker services to supply water across the country to such communities.

Madam Cecilia Dapaah, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources announced this, on Tuesday, at a media briefing, in Accra, while explaining the Government's measures to make water available to the citizenry to maintain proper hygiene in the wake of COVID-19.

President Akufo-Addo, in his national broadcast on Sunday, April 5, announced that the Government would absorb the water bills of all Ghanaians for the next three months, effective April.

He also directed the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to ensure a stable supply of water for the period.

Giving details of the water relief services, the Minister said both public and private-owned water tankers would be mobilised for the service.

The Community Water Sanitation Agency and all community-based water systems were also encouraged to provide water to the communities for free.

Madam Dapaah assured hospitals, clinics and other health facilities of enjoying priority supply of water to improve efficient health care delivery.

Responding to a question on people who were disconnected due to arrears, the Minister said the payment would be suspended for them to access free water for the next three months.

However, those who had been disconnected because of illegal connections and acts would be provided for through the tanker services.

She asked landlords not to charge tenants for the water they used.

The Minister warned the public not to tamper with the pipelines of the GWCL and the CWSA, stressing that, anybody offender caught would face the full rigours of the law.

She also advised citizens to use the water judiciously and not waste it on unnecessary activities, such as the watering of lawns and ornamental plants, as the rains would take care of these soon.

Each person, she said, was estimated to use 160 litres of water per day.

Madam Dapaah encouraged all to adhere to the preventive measures announced by the Ghana Health Service, especially, regular handwashing with soap under running water and maintaining social distance, especially when sneezing and coughing, to prevent the spread of the respiratory virus.

The novel coronavirus has since December 2019, infected more than 1.3 million people globally and killed more than 76,000.

Ghana’s total confirmed cases stand at 287 on Tuesday, April 7, with five deaths.