Galamsey: GWCL May Not Be Able To Supply Water In Next 6 Months – WRC Warns
The Director of Planning at the Water Resources Commission, Dr. Bob Alfa, has issued a warning that if illegal mining activities are not dealt with within the next six months, the Ghana Water Company Limited will not be able to provide treated water for various households.
“In the short term, we will not get treated water at all, and we will have to shut down, most of the equipment will be destroyed,” Dr. Alfa said.
Dr. Alfa added that “in the long term, agriculture will be affected, food security will be affected, and economic growth will suffer…It is a complete system and our livelihood is on the line as well.”
Dr. Alfa also stated that Ghana is already importing water, saying that “when we say Ghana is importing water, we often look at the physical importation, but on the face of it, that is already happening. We are importing labour and tools into our water supply mechanisms.”
“Whatever we consume is produced with water and if you don’t develop your water resources, and then you import some country’s products, what you are importing is what they have done as far as their water development is concerned.”
An Environmental Scientist and toxicologist, Professor Chris Gordon, and Dr. Adwoa Yirenkyi Fianko, a Senior Lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) also spoke at the event.