From Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Busia Beach
Traces of heavy metals and arsenic substance have been found in underground water and river bodies in the Western Region, putting the lives of residents who depend on them at risk.
The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) which announced this at Busua attributed this to the activities of illegal miners.
The Water Supply Engineer of CWSA, Mr Joseph Jona, said increase in these illegal mining activities in the region did not only threaten the lives of water consumers but also threatened the existing water bodies and underground water.
He said there was the need to ensure that such activities were curbed immediately to safeguard lives and underground water reserves.
Mr Jona said other major challenges facing the CWSA were the delays in payment of bills by offices of ministries, departments and agencies in the districts.
He said the delays made it impossible for them to access ready funds to improve their services.
The supply engineer said as a way forward, they were developing a comprehensive documentary on the water situation in the region, where more than 70 per cent of the population was dependent on their services.
He said the total coverage for the region in terms of water to deprived communities was 44.20 per cent as of the end of December, 2009.
“However water supply coverage on successful completion of ongoing projects by the end of this year is estimated to increase to 56.70 per cent,” he said.
Mr Jona expressed his gratitude to other stakeholders such as World Vision International, Water Aid, R&C, an Italian NGO, Care International, the government through the assemblies and some mining, as well as cocoa companies, and support from the donor community.
The Chairman of the Water Board, Mr Francis Yaw Gyarko, acknowledged the challenges and the dangers posed by the activities of illegal miners in the region.
Members of the board were later conducted round some of the facilities in the Agona West District.
No comments:
Post a Comment