Use services of professionals for boreholes

The Water Resources Commission has advised Ghanaians to employ the services of qualified and licensed drilling companies for the drilling of underground water and boreholes for both domestic and industrial purposes.

Mrs. Bernadette Araba Adjei, Legal Officer to the Commission, said these experts must have geologists and hydrologists to ascertain the availability and the quality of the water they intend to source.

At a media training on Integrated Water Resources Management, Water Laws and Regulations, and Reporting on the Environment, Mrs. Adjei said proper environmental checks are a must to ensure that boreholes are not drilled directly around a cesspit or a cemetery.

The environment or feasibility checks, according to her, could also help in determining the volume of water in a particular geographical area and the number of boreholes that could be operated in the area. The legal officer said currently the Commission has a list of 100 drilling companies, categorized between A to C, in its database and urged businesses and individuals to seek assistance from the Commission to access them.

She said communities must also plan and develop central sewage systems where waste products are treated before being discharged. Mr Mawuli Lumor, Officer at the Ankrobra Basin, said the Integrated Water Resource Management is to ensure that development takes place in a coordinated manner.

He condemned the serious degradation caused to the environment by negative human activities, particularly, illegal mining, and called for the requisite political will to be applied to control the situation. Mr Osei Owusu-Sekyere, an environmentalist, said most of the rivers are now literally dead though they continue to flow, explaining, “No weeds or fish live in these waters any more”.