Dr Freda Prempeh, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, has asked the Ghana Water Company Limited to intensify their working relationship with stakeholders to monitor the activities of encroachment on the buffers of the Weija Dam.
She also expressed worry about how unauthorized houses had sprung up within the 300-metre buffer to the dam reservoir putting residents of Accra at risk of water insecurity.
Dr Prempeh made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency when she paid a working visit to the Weija Treatment Plant to assess the level of human activities such as, sand winning and unauthorized structures.
“The need to intensify stronger working relationships with town and city planners is critical so that they can effectively play their planning, policy and implementation responsibilities,” she stated.
The Minister said the government would play its part to stop the activities of the encroachers since pollution of water bodies had increased the cost of production at the treatment plant.
Dr Hadisu Alhassan, the Production Manager of the Ghana Water Company, complained about the continuous building of structures within the buffer zones.
“We are worried that people residing within the catchment area have ignored cautions about the dangers associated with their stay in such communities, especially when the dam is spilled,” he stated.
Dr Alhassan blamed the authorities at the municipal levels for shirking their responsibilities of ensuring that they act immediately to prevent a disaster soon.
“The water reservoir is an important and strategic national asset and needs to be protected from illegal human activities that are compromising its integrity,” he pointed out.
Dr Prempeh later visited the Kpone Landfill Site to assess the progress of work there.
GNA