Deputy Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources also the MP for Sisala East, Hamidu Chinnia Issahaku says water supply across the country is under threat due to illegal mining hence more drastic measures are required to deal with the menace decisively.
The Ghana Water company limited says its process losses have hit 50% in mining areas due to high turbidity of raw water supply.
Speaking to Journalists after inspecting the state of Birim river, and water treatment plant in Osino in the Eastern region, the deputy Minister for sanitation and water resources Hamidu Chinnia Issahaku admitted past decisions made by the ministry have not yielded the desire results hence the ministry will sit with stakeholders to review the strategy for the way forward to protect river bodies in the country.
“The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) is in distress position because of some of these activities so we need to collaborate with the chiefs, the security agencies to ensure how we can minimize some of these activities to protect our water bodies. We did not come here to observe things and go and sleep, we are here to observe and to talk to stakeholders and when we get back to the ministry we will have an internal engagement and decide on the way forward and make a policy decision” the Minister said.
The Managing Director of Ghana Water Company Limited, Engineer Clifford Briamah indicated it will be forced to shutdown treatment plants if the turbidity of the water crosses certain thresh hold as a result of galamsey activities.
“Am not a happy person, but I pray that the security, the regulators and the President admonishing to the MMDCEs will help reduce the problems, at the end of it if nothing changes it will mean that our system might not be able to operate because our pumps are not designed to pump silts they are designed to pump fresh water so when the water turns like silt then we have to shut down and if shutdown meaning people will not even get water and now that the water is so dirty they cannot even go to the river to fetch to do anything so it becomes a national security issue so that is why people must take this issue more seriously,” he said.
The Managing Director of GWCL explained further that, the current pollution of raw water has pushed the processing losses from 5% to 50% making it extremely difficult for the company to sustain the cost.
“We are making loses and also the amount of water we can pump to customers would have reduced because there is process lose and we expect to have a process loses of 5%, any 100 litres of water that we take we expect that 95 litres will go to the customers but in some of these cases we do 50% process loses so instead of having 95 to send to the customers we have only 50 to send so the 45 litres that other would have consumed, they are not going to have it and we continue to do what we call ‘demand management’ in such that we push it today to one side and tomorrow we push it to the other side and if we don’t reduce it, that’s what will continue and the population is increasing as long as we continue to give birth our population will go up and so we must be very cautious about the future of this country whilst we carry on some of these activities” he explained.
According to the Managing Director of GWCL, the Ghana Water Company Limited has been the most affected by activities of illegal mining therefore while government is doing its bit to fight the menace with the regulatory agencies as well as the security agencies, it is imperative for the GWCL to also meet key stakeholders in the respective water treatment plant areas which have been affected by the polluted water bodies to solicit for their collaboration towards fighting the menace.
The Deputy Minister and his entourage after inspection met the Chief of Osino to deliberate on the way forward to ameliorate the devastating effect of illegal mining activities on the GWCL.
The chief of Osino Osabarima Otu Darko said he is not against mining but rather he is against illegal or irresponsible mining therefore pledged to support government’s effort to fight illegal mining which are causing destructions to water bodies in his traditional area and releasing dangerous chemicals into the soil.
He observed that the fight against galamsey has been difficult for the government because chiefs were sidelined in the chain of combat.
He parried blame on chiefs that they are custodians of the land hence responsible for the illegal mining activities stating that, it is government who gives concession to the miners there disingenuous to accuse any chief of given land for mining.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Kojo Ansah
