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Stakeholders urged to protect water bodies

Alhaji Collins DaudaA seminar aimed at promoting the production of quality water for consumption has been held, with a call on stakeholders to help protect local water bodies.

The country’s water bodies have been subjected to improper human activities, resulting in its pollution and ultimate destruction, with the menace of illegal mining “galamsey” being paramount.

The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Collins Dauda, speaking at the seminar, bemoaned the level at which local water bodies were being contaminated, stressing that “we all have a duty to protect our water bodies”.

The seminar was organised by Merck Millipore, with the help of its local partner, PKF Scientific Limited, which is into hospital and lab solutions, and brought together companies and institutions whose water quality was paramount to their success in their business, research and policy.

He said the destruction of those water bodies affected the Ghana Water Company Limited, as it had to spend huge sums on water treatment for consumption, adding that the high cost of production would ultimately be transferred to the consumer.

He mentioned the importance of sensitising the populace to the need to preserve water bodies and recounted the importance of safe water to human existence.

Alhaji Dauda commended the organisers of the seminar, saying “the seminar comes at an opportune time when the country is facing drastic destruction of water bodies.”

The Head of Management Systems Certification at the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Mr Kodjo Eshun, reiterated the need for enterprises to certify their products and have a management system certification.

That, he explained, was to help local businesses get access to international markets, compete fairly with foreign counterparts, as well as ensure efficiency in their operations.

He said companies needed to have both the quality management and food safety management certification, that is, the ISO 9001 and ISO 22,000, in order to instill confidence in their customers about their products or services.

Mr Eshun informed business owners of the surveillance audit, which is carried out every year after certification to ensure that the conditions under which they were certified were still being adhered to.

The General Chemicals Manager of Merck Millipore, Mr Willi Moor, told the Daily Graphic that everyone needed access to healthy and safe water and that was what Merk sought to achieve with the seminar and products it was offering.

He said the company sold analytics and methods that would help their customers to develop and offer the best water to the final consumer.

The Chief Executive Officer of PKF Scientific Limited, Mr Kodjo Eshun, said the company was committed to developing new ways of doing things, as well as introducing new technologies and products to ensure that the quality of water being consumed was the best.

He said the partnership with Merck Millipore was to afford it  the opportunity to bring about the positive growth that the economy needed.

Merck Millipore is a leading pharmaceutical, chemical and life science company that offers solutions that enables scientists to conduct life science research easily and efficiently.

Story: Jessica Acheampong / Daily Graphic / Ghana

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