By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
Rural Water Development Programme Ghana (RWDP-GH) has commemorated this year’s World Water Day (WWD) with some selected schools in the Ashaiman Municipality in the Greater Accra Region.
The occasion was used to educate the public on the need to preserve water as well as to mentor some pupils to become Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Ambassadors.
Speakers from the Water Resources Commission (WRC), Water Company Limited, and RWDP-GH took turns to address the school pupils and some residents on water pollution, and its negative effects on society.
The Public Relations Officer at the Tema Regional office of the Ghana Water Company Limited, Mr. Sampson Ampah, delivering the keynote address on behalf of the Regional Chief Manager bemoaned how the company spends whooping amounts of dollars to purchase chemicals to treat water. Adding that the cost for treatment is passed on to the final consumer.
He, therefore, urged the general public to be judicious in the use of water to avoid wastage while reducing high monthly bills.
On his part, a principal Monitoring Officer at the WRC, Mr. Eric Muala, delivering his address said, the galamsey menace and improper agricultural practices are destroying water bodies to the extent that, managing water is increasingly getting difficult.
He, therefore, lamented about the difficulties in managing water resources as a commission in Ghana owing to negative human activities.
This negative trend he said can be reversed by putting in place mechanisms to tackle the problem.
Whilst calling for laid down scientific procedures for discharging waste from mining activities, Mr. Muala also advocates continuous education for farmers to be abreast with where and how to apply chemicals in their farms to avoid contaminating water bodies which have dire consequences on human life.
Bishop Nathaniel Adams, explained that the milestone chalked (eradicating guinea worm in Ghana) by his organisation, was done through the provision of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene facilities and services to vulnerable communities, schools, and hospitals, among others.
The CEO of RWDP-GH reechoed the need to preserve Ghana’s freshwater bodies. Saying proper water management starts from the source, through production, and ends with the consumers.
