By Jesse Ampah Owusu, GNA
Accra, Sept. 10, GNA – Mr Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, the Minister of Works, Housing and Water Resources, Wednesday said the government will embark on a Big-Push water infrastructure agenda to improve water access and address pollution.
That would include expanding and rehabilitating water treatment plants, upgrading distribution networks to reduce leakages, and expanding coverage to vulnerable and rural communities.
“The government will leverage public financing, private sector participation, and blended finance mechanisms to close the financing gap in the agenda,” he added.
Mr Adjei made these remarks at a press launch of a maiden commemoration of this year’s World Rivers Day in Ghana by the Water Resources Commission and partners in the water sector.
The launch was on the theme: “Our Rivers, Our Future.”
Mr Adjei said the government would be championing integrated water resources management to restore degraded watersheds through reforestation, wetland protection, and community-led conservation.
It would also develop flood early warning systems and drought contingency plans to address climate change impacts.
The Minister said those interventions had become necessary to confront the challenges that threatened Ghana’s water resources as the country continued to face growing threats.
He said the country risked slipping into the category of a water-stressed country if the increasing rate of water pollution and contamination were not addressed.
“This means that water security will no longer be guaranteed, and the competition for water between domestic, industrial, and agriculture users will intensify,” he noted.
Dr Mawuli Lumor, the Head of Policy Planning, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Water Resources Commission, said the commission would embark on public campaigns on the need to protect water bodies.
He said the country was faced with weak enforcement of regulations and laws regarding water governance and called for a stronger collaboration among sector institutions and communities to address the challenge.
Dr Lumor disclosed that the Commission was considering forming local water committees in communities to help address the issues of pollution.
World Rivers Day is an annual global event celebrated on the fourth Sunday of every September to celebrate waterways and raise awareness for their conservation and sustainable management.
Ghana will for the first time join the rest of the world to commemorate the day in the country through the Water Resources Commission and other institutions in the water sector.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe