‘Govt collaborating to improve safe water in galamsey areas’
Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah has mentioned that the Ashanti Regional Co-ordinating Council (ARCC) is working closely with the security agencies to improve the water situation in galamsey-prone areas in the region.
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He said complaints from the Ashanti Regional Office of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) indicated that the water situation had deteriorated due to illegal mining activities.
Mr Osei-Mensah said this when he paid a familiarisation visit to the GWCL in Kumasi and explained that although the government had already demonstrated its resolve to end galamsey in the country, the ARCC was committed to improving the water situation in the region, especially in galamsey areas.
He noted that traditional authorities were custodians of the land and that joining forces with the security agencies to renew the deteriorated water situation was important.
He gave an assurance that all the bottlenecks raised by the GWCL would be addressed in no time.
Unity of purpose
He said the visit was a familiarisation one to enable him to determine progress of work at the institutions and departments.
He noted that with a unity of purpose, the ARCC could work collectively with state institutions for accelerated development.
"I am here to represent President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the region. For that reason, you need to work with me collectively. Our collective success will be the single success of the President," he stated.
MMDAs owe Ghana Water 74 million
The Ashanti South Regional Manager of the GWCL, Mr Maxwell Addo Boateng, informed the regional minister that GWCL was committed to improving the water situation in galamsey-prone areas.
Apart from that, he said ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in Kumasi owed the company GH¢74 million from April 2017 to date.
He said as much as the GWCL was committed to improving its services, the MDAs should also commit themselves to offsetting their bills in time to improve efficiency.
He hinted that GWCL was resorting to a new software to replace its existing obsolete manual metre system.
This to him would help reduce complaints from customers on faulty metres.