Children Cry Out At Water Forum - Deal With Water Saboteurs

Children want tap water to be really clean

Children at the second Ghana Water Forum in Accra have appealed for the passage of a law that would punish people who damage pipelines.

They also asked that those who engage in illegal water connections should be made to face the full rigours of the law.

The appeal which was contained in a statement titled, 'The role of Children and Youth in Water and Sanitation Services Delivery in Ghana,' was delivered by Master Robert Ntiamoah of Army Basic School, Kumasi and Miss Claudia Baah-Asabere of O'Reilly SHS, Accra.

The children also wanted to know about projects that government had undertaken in relation to water, the water policy and other rules that govern the supply of water in the country.

'We expect that by the end of this forum, we would learn ways of dealing with overflowing refuse dumps so that it will not affect water bodies, how to correctly use water, and hope that more cannals and irrigation would be built for agriculture as well as understand the linkages between the Millennium Development Goals and water protection and sustainability.'

In his keynote address, the President, Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills, whose speech was read on his behalf by the Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Alban S. K. Bagbin, stressed government's commitment to the water and sanitation sector.

He announced that government would from next year allocate US$ 200 million to the water and sanitation sector to run its programmes.

The minister noted that, the provision of clean water is an investment for the future of the country adding that “majority of cases reported daily at hospitals were water-related diseases.

The forum also marked the presentation of awards to four students from Mfantsipim School, Cape Coast, who represented the country in Stockholm for the Junior Water Prize Competition. Children from 30 countries around the world participated in that Competition and Ghana placed fourth.

The second Ghana Water Forum was organised with sponsorship from UNICEF, Polytank, WaterAid, USAID and Acqua Vitens Rand Limited.