The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah has directed the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to initiate legal processes to demolish structures on the company’s encroached lands.
In the meantime, she has asked the company to undertake regular patrol on lands to protect and prevent encroachers from taking over the lands.
She said the company should collaborate with other stakeholders to create a 100-metre buffer around water bodies and its operational equipment and machinery.
The minister was speaking in Accra yesterday when she inspected the progress of repair works at the Weija Treatment Plant.
The plant has been shut down for a five-day repair works by the GWCL which commenced on September 13.
The exercise has resulted in a cut in water supply to the western parts of Greater Accra Region.
Weija, Gbawe, Bortianor, Kokrobite, Kasoa, Mallam, Sakaman, Odorkor, Dansoman, Kaneshie, Achimota, Korlebu, Mataheko and surrounding communities, were areas affected by the repair works.
Madam Dapaah noted however, that water supply to these areas will resume within 24 to 48 hours.
She said progress report received from the Engineers in-charge indicated that the repair works, which bordered on water pump and metre installation and welding of broken pipes, were about 90 per cent complete.
She commended GWCL for completing the works within the announced schedule as well as using both its internally generated funds and internal expertise to undertake the rehabilitation.
Managing Director of GWCL, Dr Clifford Braimah, said repair works were undertaken regularly to avoid a total collapse of equipment, saying that the ongoing works would help the company to reduce the quantity of treated water lost through leakages.
As part of measures to improve operations and revenue collection, he noted that, the company was installing digital metres that could detect illegal connection and provide accurate data on quantity of water supplied to a location within a given period.
He said 426 fixed meters and 226 industrial meters were being deployed across the country to help reduce losses.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS
