Ghana's drinking water is largely contaminated – Minister of Water

General News of Sunday, March 24, 2019

Source: starrfm.com.gh

2019-03-24

The contamination of drinking water in Ghana is widespread, said the minister of sanitation and water resources.

Citing a study by the Ghana Statistical Service called the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey in Ghana (2017/2018) on drinking water quality parameters, the minister, Cecilia Dapaah, said that the survey indicated a widespread deterioration of the quality of drinking water in the country with 48% contamination at the source. and 76% at the point of use.

This was deemed unacceptable, she drew the attention of the government to the need to increase investment in water and sanitation, from the water to the water. improve the development of infrastructure and water treatment technologies to improve efficiency and quality.

Cecilia Dapaah, however, expressed her concern about the degradation of water sources resulting from illegal mining, deforestation, disposal of solid and liquid waste, extraction sand and agriculture along the rivers which, according to her, threaten both the quantity and the quality of the water. to all"

The minister explained that "in 2017, the inappropriate use of water, especially illegal mining (galamsey), had ensured that in 16 major watersheds of the countries, 65% were of poor quality, including 15% critical ". She stated that the Ministry recently noted with grave concern the illegal collection of sand in the river and rivers of the White Volta Basin near the Ghana Water Company catch at Dalun and Nawuni, which serve Tamale and its surrounding areas. .

She congratulated the government and the media for their continued struggle against illegal mining, which has resulted in improved water quality.

This was part of a speech read by Donnan Tay, Director of Water at the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, on behalf of the Area Minister, on the occasion of the celebration of World Water Day 2019 at Akropong School for the Blind in the Eastern Region. global theme "Do not leave anyone behind".

The minister said that despite these difficulties, Ghana has made considerable progress over the years in providing basic drinking water services to the population, adding for example that the ongoing investigation into Multiple Indicators in Ghana (MICS) 2017/2018 indicates that
In Ghana, 8 out of 10,000 households use basic water services, but there are inequalities and disparities that can widen if collective measures are not taken.

In addition, 20% of the population uses about 1 hour to 3 hours more than the acceptable 30 minutes for a round trip, including waiting to get water every day for households without water on site.

Sylvia Lopez -Ekra, United Nations Acting Resident Coordinator in Ghana, said the SDGS 6 urged countries to provide access to safe drinking water for all by the year 2030 but he said that in Ghana, the 2017 indicator suggests that 21% of Ghanaians still do not have access to safe water that goes up to 32% in rural communities.

She also mentioned the huge disparities in water coverage in Ghana. For example, it indicated that Greater Accra, for example, covered 98% of water but that the water coverage in the Northern Region was 50%.

She therefore called on the government to ensure equitable water distribution by focusing efforts on marginalized groups.

Ama Kudom Agyeman, one of the organizers of the event, told Starr News, students of the School for the Blind of Akropong and the School of Deaf Mampong that students were targeted this year to promote an inclusive program in decision making regarding water supply services.