The government is to roll out a Water for All programme to ensure adequate supply of water across the country.

The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah, who disclosed this, added that the programme would be backed by sustainable ecological policies to reduce pollution for efficient water use.

Additionally, the programme would focus on strengthening decentralised management bodies in the water sector, as well as intensify education, awareness creation and monitoring of water bodies, she said.

"These actions will be implemented because the government is seeking to ensure that all citizens have water to live healthy, productive and happy lives," she added.

The minister was speaking at the inauguration of the 15-member Board of the Water Resources Commission (WRC) in Accra yesterday.

Composition of board

The board is chaired by a nominee of the President, Mr Minta Afosa Aboagye.

Other members are the Executive Secretary of the WRC, Mr Ben Yaw Amponsah; a representative each of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), Mr Yendor Ziema Jacob; the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Mr Worlanyo Kwadjo Siabi; the Hydrology Department of the Ministry of Works and Housing, Mr Sylvester Darko, and the Volta River Authority (VRA), Mr Abdul Noor Wahab.

Also on the board are representatives of the Ghana Irrigation Development Agency (GIDA), Mr Richard Oppong-Boateng; the Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI), Prof. Mike Yaw Osei-Atweneboana; the Meteorological Services Agency, Dr Michael Mawutor Tanu; the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mr Ransford Sekyi, and the Forestry Commission, Mr John McDonald Allotey.

The rest are Mr Collins Anim Sackey from the Minerals Commission; a traditional ruler, Togbe Gbogbolulu V, and two other nominees of the President, Ms Afua Gyamfua Owusu-Akyaw and Adelaide Ntim.

Mr Aboagye said the board would collaborate with other stakeholders to deal with negative human activities, such as the use of pesticides for farming along water bodies, deforestation and illegal mining that polluted water bodies.

He assured the minister that the board would play its role properly to support the government to successfully implement the Water for All agenda.

"As the demand for water increases and waste water generation goes up, we have to look more towards recycling water," the board chairman said.