Government to Achieve Water for All - Minister

By Rachel Sarpong

The Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has said the government is working expeditiously to provide water for all Ghanaians.

It is the vision of President Akufo-Addo, who is also a co-chair of the Sustainable Development Goals, for every Ghanaian to have access to "good portable water."

The Minister made the comments when the board of the Ghana Water Company Water Limited paid a courtesy call on her in Accra.

"We have a lot of projects lined-up," she said, disclosing that "some have reached Cabinet; some will be getting to Parliament while others are also in the pipeline."

Mrs. Dapaah, who was reshuffled from the Aviation Ministry to the Sanitation and Water Resources Ministry last year, said the visit of the GWCL board was "long overdue" and promised to reciprocate the gesture.

She told the board, chaired by Alexander Afenyo Markin, Member of Parliament for Efutu, that the Ministry was ready to support GWCL. "And we should work hand-in-hand so that we can achieve our aim," she said.

On his part, Mr. Markin bemoaned production and revenue losses within the GWCL, pointing out that without reforming the system, production and revenue losses would continue unabated. Often, he noted that reforms are resisted by workers because it is not a pleasant venture.

Mr. Markin assured the Minister of the cooperation of the board, saying that human resource competence is not a problem at GWCL. "What we need to enable you to succeed is reforms," he added. To achieve this, he called for the support of the Ministry to implement far-reaching reforms at GWCL.

Mr. Markins also called for the cooperation of the workers of the GWCL, saying they often misconstrue the intentions of the board.

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