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GWJN decries pollution of water bodies

The National Coordinator of Ghana Wash Journalists Network (GWJN), Justice Lee Adoboe, has expressed concern over the continuous pollution of water bodies in Ghana.

The pollution through human activities, he said, restricted the country’s effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target 6.1 and 6.3 hence advocating the implementation of integrated water resource management and the improvement of water quality.

Those human activities which included refuse dumping, illegal mining, unhealthy fishing methods and the seepage of agro-chemicals into these bodies as well as the breaching of the demarcated buffer zones along the course of the water bodies needed to be avoided to ensure sustainable water.

He expressed those concerns at a press conference in Accra yesterday.

According to Mr Adoboe, statistically, Ghana was on the path to achieve universal access to safe and affordable drinking water by the due date (2030) as targeted under the United Nations (SDG) 6 hence “measures have to be put in place to afford the quality and sustainability of water because without that, achieving the SDG Goal 6 target would be difficult.”

Mr Adoboe therefore urged stakeholders to revisit the national strategy for protecting water bodies, particularly, traditional authority, religious leaders andyouth groups.

He called for engagement of the youth to support the anti-galamsey fight in some communities in Western, Ashanti and Eastern regions of Ghana.

Mr Adoboe further advised WaterResource Commission, Ghana Water CompanyLimited, Lands Commission, Forestry Commission and other stakeholders to collaborate with Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development to curb the use of hazardous chemicals and unapproved fishing and farming methods around water bodies.

“Regulations for commercial drinking water production and supply, borehole drilling and private water distribution must be strictly enforced to ensure water safety for communities,” he stated.

The Ghana Wash Journalists Network (GWJN), is a voluntary not-for-profit organisation comprising Ghanaian journalists who are interested in using their professional skills to promote high-quality standards in the country’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector.

As a media-based organisation, it draws members from various media houses in the country, trains them and guides them to embark on a WASH advocacy publications in their various media houses.

BY BENEDICTA GYIMAAH FOLLEY

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