The Minister, Kofi Adda, and management of GWCL, are expected to brief the Committee on the water situation in the country, and also outline plans put in place to address the problem.

[contextly_sidebar id=”vAaopnhk89mhh5gNn1ypD3unxePxu2Hz”]The company cited the dry season and the pollution of the country’s water bodies as the cause of the water shortage.

The Chairman of the Works and Housing Committee of Parliament, Nana Amoako, speaking to Citi News ahead of the meeting, indicated that all the Committee is seeking was disclosure on the real state of affairs.

“We want to know from them the measures they have put in place… and what is causing this water shortage. We want to really find out from them because sometimes, we have to really hear from their side what is really happening over there.”

Late in January, GWCL announced that water supply in most parts of the country will be rationed to ensure equitable distribution.

According to the company, it was experiencing some challenges with water supply in Accra and most parts of the country due to the onset of the dry season.

The situation has led to intermittent water supply in most cities and towns in the country.

A statement released by the management of GWCL advised the general public to be measured in their consumption of water, while the Water Company addresses the challenges.

“It must be emphasized that during this season, a number of consumers resort to the use of treated water for keeping lawns green, for commercial washing of vehicles etc. The dry season is on and consumers with greater dependence on rainwater have also compounded the problem by taking to treated water use. These practices ease the pressures in the pipelines thereby causing low pressure and no flow in some areas, especially areas located in high elevations,” GWCL also explained in the statement.

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By: Philip Nii Lartey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Minister, GWCL to face Parliament on water rationing today appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

She noted that most people, especially children, lose weight during the dry season and underscored the need for individuals to consume at least eight glasses of water a day to remain hydrated.

Madam Adzornu, who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview, said moist foods such as soups and porridge must dominate menus, and added that daily consumption of fruits and vegetables strengthened the immune system, whilst preventing respiratory tract infections, which often occurred due to increased pathogens in the dusty atmosphere.

She said proper food hygiene must be considered, and asked consumers of street foods to buy from vendors who operated in clean surroundings while also avoiding cold meals.

Madam Adzornu advised parents to ensure kids had nutritious and wholesome homemade foods in school, and asked them to replace unhealthy snacks and sweets with fruits and more water.

She also called on nursing mothers to breastfeed babies at regular intervals, and stressed on good hygienic practices which included hand washing with soap at all times.

Madam Adzornu said air-borne infections spread easier with the fast winds of the dry season, and advised the public against open sneezing and spitting at inappropriate places.

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Source: GNA

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She observed that WASH issues remained critical to the country’s quest for sustainable development and therefore called for commitment in initiating and implementing mechanisms to promote universal coverage of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.

The Country Director of IRC-Ghana made the call in Aburi at a three-day engagement workshop with representatives of the Asutifi North District Assembly in the Brong Ahafo Region, National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), World Vision International, Aquaya Institute and other partners in WASH-related subsector to finalize the district’s 15-year WASH Masterplan.

The programme was organized by IRC-Ghana, Safe Water Network and supported by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

The District is piloting a 15-year District Based WASH Coverage Initiative for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal Six (SDG 6) and when successful, will be replicated in Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the country.

She mentioned illiteracy, policy deficiency, weak capacity and operational gaps as the challenges confronting the efficient delivery of WASH services in the country and called for collaboration from the government and partners to professionalize water service delivery for financial sustainability.

Mrs. Duti tasked stakeholders to demonstrate commitment by harmonizing their interventions and strategies in achieving full WASH coverage for all by 2030.

In his welcome address, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Asutifi North, Anthony Mensah commended development partners of the WASH programme for finalizing the masterplan aimed at achieving universal coverage of water, sanitation and Hygiene services in the district.

He noted the level of access to WASH facilities in the district was estimated at 33 percent for sanitation and 65 percent for water far below the national average and appealed to the partners to fashion out interventions fast-track the process to enable the district achieve SDG 6, aimed at clean water and sanitation.

“There is no doubt that, the district has the potential to improve on its coverage especially in the willingness of the private sector to resource and facilitate direct implementation of WASH facilities”, he emphasized.

Mr Mensah therefore pledged the assembly’s commitment to the implementation of the WASH masterplan to achieve its desired results and appealed to all stakeholders for support and frank discussions of the programme to serve as a workable model for the country.

He commended IRC-Ghana, Safe Water Network, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, World Vision International and Aquaya Institute for their intervention and interest in address WASH problems in the area.

Participants at the end of the 3-day engagement are expected to come out with a budget, funding sources and implementation plan for the project.

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By: Mashoud Kombat/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The investigation is to ascertain whether the GWCL and Ghanaians were not short-changed in the deal.

[contextly_sidebar id=”dGa50ezlWZN9dhGOEq9rxzfGgkvpiZ9w”]According to PUWU, the project, which was signed between the Ghana Water Company and an engineering firm; Messrs Befassa has “seriously weakened the capacity of GWCL to deliver on its mandate.”

Explaining the current challenges the company is battling with due to this project, PUWU explained in a statement that “GWCL buys water from the desalination plant at GHC 6.50 per cubic meter, and sells it to customers at the PURC approved tariff of GHC 1.50”, leaving a “GHC 5.00 loss” for the GWCL.

It added that the “GWCL pays the invoice amount in US Dollars even though it sells the water in Ghana cedis, thereby accumulating more losses as a result of exchange differentials.”

Another strange provision in the contract, according to PUWU “is the price indexation which is tied to local inflation although the invoice and payment to the private operator is in the United States Dollars.”

Citing more examples to support its claim, PUWU recalled that “in 2015, GWCL paid to Befassa a total of US $ 1.8 million, leaving an outstanding indebtedness of US$ 13.9 million. In 2016, even though GWCL was making negative cash flow of about GHC 7.2 million a month, the company was compelled to pay Befessa a total of US $ 23.7 million, leaving an outstanding indebtedness of US $ 8.1 million. As at the end of September 2017 , GWCL had paid a total of US$ 12.9 million to Befessa , leaving an outstanding indebtedness of US $ 7.2 million. The company continued to make a net negative cash flow of an average of GHC 6.02 million per month.”

These expenditures according to PUWU, has left GWCL in a “precarious position” affecting its cash flow operations and expansion works.

According to PUWU, “there is no doubt that this agreement between GWCL and Messrs Befessa is not only obnoxious, but also “beats common business sense as it appears to be a case of a giant conspiracy between foreign investors and their local collaborators and some public officials, with political influence, to loot the public entity like GWCL and share the proceeds among themselves under the guise of a private sector investment or private public partnership.”

PUWU has also called on government to “take over the financial commitments and transaction losses suffered by GWCL” in the purchase and sale of water from the desalination plant, to save the company from potential collapse.

Background

In 2011, the Government of Ghana awarded a contract to Befesa Desalination Development Ghana for the establishment of the sea water treatment plant to produce clean water, which will be channeled into the pipelines of GWCL.

Messrs Befesa Limited, an engineering firm, was contracted by the government to build the desalination plant, operate to defray its cost, and hand over to the GWCL after 25 years.

The project was executed by Abengoa, a Spanish company, and Sojitz Corporation, Japan’s largest importer of rare earth metals.

The two hold a 94% equity in the project. The plant was designed, constructed and is being operated by Befesa Desalination Developments Ghana, a joint venture of Abengoa Water Investments Ghana, Daye Water Investment (Ghana), and their local partner Hydrocol.

What were the issues?

Some industry insiders had told Citi News that there was no need to have established the Teshie Water Desalination plant because around the same time, the Kpong Water Treatment plant was being expanded to supply over 40 million gallons of water to the Accra East Region.

It was estimated that at its peak, the Kpong Plant could produce about 80 million gallons of water per day, and that could take care of consumers in the catchment area. The retrofitting of the Kpong Plant cost the taxpayer about $273 million.

However, a strong case was made for the Teshie Desalination plant with reference to the fact that the demand for the catchment area stood at 160 million gallons of water a day. Therefore, the government gave the project the needed push to see its execution.

Resistance to the project

The Teshie and Nungua areas have had water challenges for years and because of inadequate water volumes, the Ghana Water Company Limited for years undertook water rationing.

The introduction of the Desalination plant was to ensure 13 million gallons of water was produced per day, to eliminate rationing and ensure consumers got quality and affordable water.

But a bigger problem persisted for GWCL, which is the off-taker under the Water Purchasing Agreement between Ghana and Befesa.

A consolidation of all the costs meant that, Ghana Water was buying the water at about GHc 6.5 per cubic meter, and selling at the regulated PURC rate of about GHc 1.5 per cubic meter.

This arrangement meant that the GWCL was losing about GHc 5 for every cubic meter of water sold from the Teshie Desalination Plant.

Citi News’ checks had also indicated that the  GWCL was losing GHc 6 million monthly by operating the Desalination Plant.

The checks showed that the GWCL was making payments of GHc 8 million a month to the financiers of the project, although it made only GHc 2 million by supplying treated water from the plant.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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This, he assured, would help Ghana effectively manage waste, and also go a long way to improve the water situation.

The issue of collection, management, and disposal of solid waste, continues to be a challenge for several cities across the country.

The contamination of water bodies; leading to the spread of water-borne diseases, is also another headache for government.

Mr. Adda, who was speaking at the opening of the 2017 Sector Strategic Stakeholders workshop of the Sanitation and Water Resources Ministry, also disclosed that as part of government’s plans to manage waste effectively; it will build two waste management plants in all ten regions of the country.

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By: Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Gov’t to develop -3year strategic plan for water, sanitation – Adda appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Figures released by the United Nations suggest 1.8 billion people globally use a source of drinking water contaminated with faeces, putting them at risk of contracting cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio.

Unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene causes around 842,000 deaths each year.

In this report, Citi News’ Farida Shaibu takes you to Kpankyredor, a community located in the Ningo-Prampram district of the Greater Accra, not very far away from the national capital, Accra.

All 5000 people there have no access to potable water and they share a polluted pond with cattle.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Thirst in the City: Sharing water with cattle [Report] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Water treatment plants are being shut down one after the other almost every time, due to pollution, largely by the activities of illegal gold miners.

The Head of Communications at the Ghana Water Company, Steve Mantey on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday,  gave an overview of water bodies in the some regions that have been polluted by illegal mining activities.

Western Region

In the Western Region, the main water bodies that have been polluted include the River Pra, Daboase,and River Ankobra.

Eastern Region

The main water body in the Eastern Region that has been polluted is Birim.

Plants in Kyebi , which were meant for water treatment had to be shutdown due to pollution of the Birim river which is beyond treatment.

Giving a vivid description of the state of the Birim River, Mr. Mantey said  “We have an old treatment plant in Kyebi which is not automated. Unfortunately the cause of the Birim is diverted and totally destroyed such that we cannot even see the waterway so you can imagine the state of the Birim now.”

This challenge has compelled the Ghana Water Company to construct a borehole which will serve small communities.

But according to Mr. Mantey, the  greater percentage of the population still do not have access to water.

The problem extends to the Koforidua and new Juaben communities, where water bodies around that community have been polluted as a result of fishing activities.

“Formerly we were using very minimal levels of chemicals in treating water from the Volta River but the chemical usage is decreasing gradually which means that pollution is gradually getting higher.”

Greater Accra

In the Greater Accra Region,  the Densu River which extracts water specifically for Western Accra and situated around the Weija dam is polluted as a result of farming activities and industrial waste.

The Ghana Water Company has resorted to using chemicals to address this problem.

“Immediately it [waste] is dumped, the pollution is intense so we have had to use a lot of chemicals in our Weija treatment plant to treat water,” Mr. Mantey explained.

Upper West Region

In the Upper West Region, the Black Volta is also polluted, forcing the Ghana Water Company to get a new water treatment plant to produce safe drinking water.

“In the Upper West Region, we have a new treatment plant that will supply water to the Wa Municipality. The Black Volta is also currently disturbed as a result of galamsey operation. We have a new treatment plant and we are about test running the treatment plant,” Mr .Mantey said.

Ashanti Region

The Ashanti Region is battling with the same problem.

According to Mr. Mantey, the Enu River in the Ashanti Region which serves residents at Konogo is polluted due to galamsey activities.

He said the Ghana Water Company in a bid to address this problem “did some work in the area and it is yielding results.”

Mr. Mantey however commended the chiefs in Bari Kese, another community in the Ashanti Region, who in his view are “protecting the water bodies in the area.”

Northern Region

While galamsey activities are polluting water bodies in other regions, the basic activity polluting water bodies in the Northern Region is sand winning.

According to Mr. Mantey,  in the Nawuni River, situated at the Northern Region, “people are winning sand which is changing the colour of the river.”

Brong Ahafo Region

The situation is even worse in the Brong Ahafo Region, where residents have, according to Mr. Mantey, blocked the “course of the river at certain intervals such that the water is unable to flow into some areas.”

This situation is particularly rife in Sunyani.

“Recently we all heard of the lack of water in Sunyani. It was not as a result of equipment but it was as a result of farming activities. They had blocked  the river course to irrigate their farms.”

Central Region

Mr. Mantey revealed that in the Central Region, some water bodies specifically at Cape Coast have been polluted as a result of galamsey activities.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Galamsey, pollution destroying water bodies in Ghana – Water Company appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This means over half of the company’s customer base of 31,327 are denied portable drinking water on daily basis.

The two major water treatment plants serving the Twin City, have had to cut production due to low levels of water in the Pra River.

Speaking to Citi News, the Western and Central Regions Communication Manager of Ghana Water Company Limited, Nana Yaw Barnie, stated that “the Daboase Treatment plant has a production capacity of 5.5 million gallons of water per day, but as we speak, it has reduced to 3 million, a loss of 2.5 million gallons.

The Nchaaban Head works which is to augment the supply has had to also cut down its size of 4 millions gallons per day to 1.3 million gallons of water per day. As a result, we have had to ration water in order to sustain susply, if not, only the people on lowlands will have water if we decide not to ration”.

The Ghana Water Company Limited has had all its sources for the Axim, Bonsaso, Daboase and Nchaaban polluted by illegal miners.

The turbidity levels of the Ankobra River which serves the Axim treatment plant, River Bonsa, which serves the Bonsaso Treatment Station, and Prah for the Daboase and Nchaaban stations, have increased substantially over the past few years prompting the application of more chemicals for treatment.

Other minor rivers which supply small towns and villages in the middle belt of the region have also not been spared the pollution.

It is projected that Ghana may be importing water by 2025 if the spate if pollution does not change.

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By: Obremopong Ampofo/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to the Director for Natural Resources at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),  Carl Fiati, if government does not curb illegal mining, Ghana may soon lose all of its water bodies.

“We anticipated this problem long time ago that it’s going to come a time when we continue the way we are going as a country, we are going to destroy all our water bodies and import water for drinking,” Mr. Fiati added.

[contextly_sidebar id=”myrf2lXbUmVtEDHlw9BsOpaxmzfGK0SJ”]The EPA director made the claim on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday following reports of closure of the Abessim water treatment plant in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The Ghana Water Company has said the plant had to be shut down because of the reduction in water levels in the Tano River caused by illegal mining.

The Kyebi Water Treatment plant was also shut down in August 2016 because the water had been rendered untreatable by galamsey.

The galamsey menace continues to serve as a threat to water bodies, aquatic life and agriculture in the country, however several efforts by government including setting up an inter-ministerial taskforce in the previous administration proved futile.

Mr. Fiati explained that the galamsey problem is a very complex one and government must thus “develop a national will to address it.”

No national will in solving galamsey

“It is not a problem EPA alone can solve. The mandate of the EPA is to co-manage the environment so we do it in partnership with all the other sectors. But when it comes to galamsey, it looks like there is no national will to deal with it. We appear to value the gold more than the water we drink and the land on which we farm and our forest. So we have allowed people to go freely and degrade.”

Mr. Fiati observed that in other countries mining areas are blocked “and people only go in when government opens up an area for mining.”

“In this country people can go anywhere and start mining. I am personally unhappy with the situation, I think government must change its way of doing things—get mines closed…so that mining can be properly regulated. That is what is done elsewhere, nobody jumps anywhere and mine it is illegal so if somebody is doing illegal mining he should be arrested and prosecuted,” he added.

When asked how the dangerous effects of galamsey could be resolved, Mr. Fiati said the only way is to arrest, prosecute and jail illegal miners to serve as deterrent to others.

“EPA has specific procedures and processes to ensure that our registered mining entities do their mining activities in an environmentally friendly way. So those that are known to us and are registered with us we regulate, but there are several more people who have gone into mining without the requisite permit so as to do the mining the right way and these people are the illegal or galamsey mining. These people are scattered all over. EPA alone cannot deal with these people. This people are armed, EPA is not armed so we’d need the security agencies, the Ministry of Lands and Forestry, minerals commission and other to work together.”

“EPA cannot bypass these processes and procedures and pretend we are regulating galamsey. We have to make people realize that galamsey is illegal and punishable. And the way to do it is to arrest, prosecute an if possible jail those who do galamsey because the effect of galamsey on the population and the future of this country is far reaching, we cannot compromise with it,” he added.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ghana may soon import water over galamsey – EPA appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The hospital experienced a 4-day water shortage from 13th January to 16th of January 2017, leaving patients to their fate in search for water for health care delivery.

Speaking to Citi News, the Head of Administration of the hospital, Mr. Zakariah Yakubu, said the Hospital has taken measures to fix the problem.

“The water shortage situation was serious from last week Friday to Monday, when we had a challenge with the Ghana Water Company supplying the hospital with water due to a technical problem; but the main cause of the water shortage in the hospital emanates from community members trooping into the hospital’s water tanks especially in the night, to empty them hence causing the shortage. This is so because there are several unapproved routes into the hospital.”

Mr. Yakubu however stated that, even though Ghana Water Company Limited has restored water supply to the hospital, the facility has to also procure additional water from water suppliers to augment the situation.”

“The hospital buys about five trips of water every week for close to GHc 1,000.00. We have also dug a mechanized borehole to beef up water supply in the hospital, but the Ghana Water Company took a sample of the water for testing in November 2016, and is yet to furnish us with the results so that we can start using the borehole.”

Mr.Yakubu added that, the hospital has started erecting water tanks up to prevent community members from accessing the water for other purposes.

“As a temporary measure, we are locking up six pipes and leaving two of them for prudent water management in the hospital”

Mr. Yakubu admonished community members to refrain from abusing water meant for treatment of patients in the hospital, adding that, any community member caught abusing water from the hospital will face the full rigors of the law.

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By: Frederick Awuni/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post U/E Regional Hospital water shortage resolved – Management appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.