Atta Akyea cries over closure of Kyebi water treatment plant

The Member of Parliament for the Abuakwa South constituency in the Eastern Region, Samuel Atta Akyea, has expressed concern over the  closure of the Kyebi Water Treatment Plant following the pollution of the Birim River.

According to him, the closure of the plant is beginning to take a toll on residents who depend on it as their sole source for potable water.

The Kyebi Water Treatment Plant was shut down last month because the water was left untreatable due to excessive pollution from illegal mining activities in the area.

The Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Water Resources and Works and Housing, Abraham Otabil, in an earlier interview told Citi News “the Kyebi water system being run by the Ghana Water Company has been temporarily shut down. This is due to the peak rise of the water turbidity and also as a result of the raw water colour which has exceeded the threshold value of 200mtu as per the plant designed and construction hence it has rendered the plant and then fresh water resources untreatable.”

Mr. Attah Akyea said residents in the area are suffering as a result of the closure and therefore need government’s intervention to provide an alternative source of potable water.

He said, “They should come to the aid of the community by giving them boreholes, as many as they can, given the fact that the President could not prevent the messing up of the River which was helping about a fifth of the Eastern Region.”

The legislator also said he was unable to make any major intervention to assist the residents.

He questioned that “if the President of Ghana is not able to eliminate galamsey, how can a Member of Parliament cause arrest and deal with these illegal activities.”

‘Galamsey destroying water bodies’

Citi News has gathered that residents of the Brong Ahafo Region also risk losing a major source of potable drinking water, River Tano, due to the activities of Galamsey operators.

The water body, which has a total catchment area of about 1500 kilometers  square runs through Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, and serves the Ghana Water Treatment Plant at Abesim near Sunyani.

Several water bodies across the country are under severe threat as the menace of galamsey has heightened with little or no effort by government to stop the act.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/Citifmonline.com/Ghana