A step in the right direction

Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), in collaboration with the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and Water Aid, a non-governmental organization, has initiated a project which is aimed at improving the supply of water to poor and low-income households in Greater Accra. This project seeks to ensure that adequate standpipes and water storage facilities are provided to communities where water supply is a major problem.

Mr Kweku Botwe, Managing Director (MD) of GWCL, recently announced this when he inaugurated a three-member board to manage the pilot projects in Accra. As part of the pilot project, places such as Nima and Teshie Nungua have already been supplied with quite an appreciable number of water storage containers and standpipes.

At the same time, the MD of GWCL bemoaned the fact that his outfit is only able to supply 60% of water to urban areas. A situation, he indicated, falls short of the 80% target set under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015. However, it was refreshing when he disclosed that his company has advanced measures to increase the supply of water in urban centers.

Water is one essential and basic commodity without which mankind cannot survive on planet earth. Yet, in the minds of many Ghanaians, water is not a basic commodity but a really scarce commodity. We have seen times when people in certain parts of Accra have had to carry all manner of containers to search for water. And it even got to a point when some of these rubber gallons were branded “Kufuor Gallons” during the acute water shortages in Accra under ex-president Kufuor's administration in 2008.

It is common knowledge that the supply of water to certain parts of Accra continues to be a major challenge to authorities of GWCL. Although attempts have been made to solve the problem, it is clear that more resources would have to be injected if, indeed, we are bent on addressing the issue once and for all.

It is therefore not surprising for areas such as Adenta, Legon, Teshie, Darkuman, Sowotuon among others always experiencing water shortages. It is for this and other reasons that we at TODAY are excited about this laudable project initiated by stakeholders in the water sector to resolve water problems in the capital.

The initiative taken by the said bodies is a laudable one and should be supported by the various communities – particularly when it is the aim of GWCL to replicate the project in other areas — which also face water shortages. Even though the project has started, what we are concerned with is our poor maintenance culture which, most often than not, has contributed to the failure of many good projects.

We hope that those who rolled out this project have put in place mechanisms that will ensure that facilities which will be supplied to the communities are properly maintained to prevent them from being damaged. It is also imperative that we use water wisely in our various homes. The way and manner we use water in our respective homes leaves much to be desired and we must therefore refrain from the practice of wasting water.

Whilst applauding GWCL, PURC and Water Aid for this brilliant initiative, we also call on the government to ensure that potable drinking water is made available to our rural communities. It is sad to see that there are rural communities which inhabitants still drink from unclean streams and rivers. We hope the NDC government will do its best to give our brothers and sisters in the rural areas good drinking water.