W/Region: Illegal Mining to Blame for Water Rationing – GWCL

The Ghana Water Company Limited is still lamenting the threat posed to water bodies through activities such as illegal mining.

The company recently announced a significant improvement in the water situation, but that has been short-lived due to worsening pollution caused by illegal miners.

According to the Western Regional Communications Manager of the company, Nana Yaw Barnie, the situation has led to continuous water rationing in most parts of the region.

“Whenever we enter the dry season, water becomes a problem because we do not have enough raw water for treatment, so that is what is happening now. We started rationing water in January and we are still rationing, we have a problem due to various factors such as galamsey,”he said.

He noted that galamsey is still very much alive in the Western Region despite ongoing efforts by the government to end it.

He indicated that, a report on water quality has shown that the colour quality of water bodies in the in region had decreased from 3000-900 Hazen Unit (HU)  in 2017, but this year, it has seen its worst increase of over 4000HU.

Citi News can confirm that some communities in the Wassa Akropong and Amenfi Districts of the Western Region are still engaged in illegal mining activities along water bodies.

This is in spite of a ban placed on all forms of small-scale mining and an intensified government effort to end illegal mining.

Figures from the Ghana Water Company Limited revealed that the Western Region is losing a total of 5.3 millions gallons of water daily due to the increased activities of illegal miners in the Pra River.

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

Source: Citifmonline