World Water Day

Takoradi, March 23, GNA-Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, on Saturday stated the need for the country to aim at closing the gender gap through the promotion of water and energy efficient technologies as a priority.

He stated this In a keynote address read for him by his deputy, Mr. Sampson Ahi, at this year’s National World Water Day celebration under the theme “Water and Energy,” in Takoradi.

Alhaji Dauda said the technologies must safeguard the well being of domestic users, especially women and children, because of unequal access to services and resource inputs.

He said the theme for the celebration is to draw attention to the fact that the world cannot continue to ignore or escape the strong link between water and energy.

Alhaji Dauda said, Ghana as a developing country, is not exempt from adopting this view and emerging global agenda.

“It fits into our development agenda of addressing the unfairness to the significant population living in slums and impoverished rural and peri-urban areas that survive without access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, sufficient food and energy services”, he said.

Water and energy, Alhaji Dauda said, have crucial impacts on the country’s drive to alleviate poverty and create wealth.

He said the National Water Policy recognises the various cross-sectoral issues related to water use, and the links to other relevant sectoral policies, including that of energy.

Alhaji Dauda said the policy also recognizes the need for making water available in suitable quantities for energy production and other non-consumptive use, as well as ensuring improved efficiency of use and effective conservation measures.

He said, ‘The policy sets out actions for encouraging the development of codes of practice for efficient water use and cleaner production technologies in industrial activities and formulation of hydropower development plans to meet current and future demands in connection with other uses through sustainable water resources management”.

Mr. Alfred Ekow Gyan, Deputy Western Regional Minister, said the water and energy crisis that the country has been experiencing is due to increasing demand and supply deficit because of breakdown of machines and equipment that interrupt the supply chain.

He said the supply deficit existed because of the exponential growth of the country’s population without the corresponding improvement in the capacity of the supply of water and energy.

Mr. Gyan said the country has to consider adopting solar energy as environmental friendly and cheaper source of energy.

He said government has already lent its support to the use of solar energy in the country, and is using solar lanterns and street lights under rural electrification project in communities that are yet to be connected to the national grid.

Mr. Gyan said government is particularly committed to support investors who want to venture into the solar energy supply, and asked public institutions to look at how best they can rely on solar energy.

Mr. Gordon Dovlo, Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), said the serious challenge confronting the company was the drying up of raw water sources as a result of pollution and siltation of water bodies.

He said the Pra and Anunum Rivers near Obosomase and Konongo respectively, have been recording significant drops in levels and flows during the dry seasons over the past few years.

Mr. Dovlo said in recent times, the situation has worsened, and the GWCL is unable to abstract adequate volume of raw water in those areas for production, especially during the period between January and April.

He said as a result of pollution and siltation and attendant drying up of water bodies, GWCL is recording high production cost on the use of water treatment chemicals, frequent repairs and maintenance of pumps and filters and dredging of water intakes on rivers such as the Pra, Birim, Tano, Ankobra and Oda.