Privatisation of water supply is dangerous

The prescription that privatising water supply, the principle on which the government has hang for the past two years, to achieve efficient water flow to the people of Ghana, is a failed effort, says Mr. Adam Alhassan, Southern Coordinator for Coalition Against Privatisation of Water, has called on the government to re-consider its decision to privatise water, because it would not produce the desired results.

Mr. Adam Alhassan was speaking at public forum in Accra last week Friday, on current issues concerning the supply of essential services such as water, health, education and sanitation in Ghana.

The coalition believes it is the right of the citizenry, to have unimpeded access to these services.

The coalition is an advocacy and lobbying group, which aims at helping government to remain committed to its national and international commitment, in the provision of essential services such as water, education, health and sanitation, to the citizenry.

Mr. Alhassan said the contract with Aqua Vitens Rand Limited, the private company responsible for the management of water supply, was to reduce the unaccounted water by 10% within a two-year period.

He said they had performed woefully, as they were able to achive only 1% of their target.

He said Aqua Vitens Rand Limited had failed terribly, as nine per cent of the water is still unaccounted for.

“They have added no new technology, than maintaining the traditional way of handling the problem,” he said, adding, “they have no grasp of the situation, yet government is paying huge sums of money that could be used to improve the system.”

He said complaints such as contaminated water, stinking water, veritable signs of poor service, were reported all over, which according to him, could pose a health threat to the people.

He said government and the donor agencies were too focused on privatisation, than having confidence in their people.

This, in his view, was a way of telling the people that they were useless, adding that government was only interested in pleasing the donor agencies.

Mr. Alhassan said the best way out, was to treat water as an essential commodity, which deserves government investment, and encourage the public to be part of its management, especially in fighting corruption in the sector.

The Essential Service Coordinator, Ms. Rosemond Kumah, said the threat to citizens right to quality and affordable essential social services, stemmed from the phenomenon which is called Corporate Globalisation, facilitated by the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), together with the World Trade Organization (WTO). She said the leveraging power of these multi-lateral finance institutions, encroached on the national policy space, and force government to break their social contract with their citizens.