Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after the Commission’s last webinar series with stakeholders, organised by the National Planning Committee with partners as part of activities of this year’s World Water Day celebrated on March 22, 2023.

She said the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 17) looked at how to partner with other organisations to accelerate the change, which formed the basis for this year’s theme: “Accelerate Change.”

She said there was a gap between where countries have reached and where they wanted to get to, adding; “Research has shown that many countries would not be able to attain the SDGs by the year 2030, and so, we need to accelerate change in all fronts, especially for SDG ‘6’, which is on water and sanitation.”

Topics discussed during the series were “How safe is the Water in your Home?” “Flooding and Its Impact on Water Quality,” and the last “Accelerating change through partnerships and cooperations in tackling water crises: The case study of Tamale Water Fund.”

Ms Paintsil said through the webinars, the Commission tried to raise awareness on issues related to water and what people could contribute to help solve the water crises, irrespective of how small they could offer.

“We are depending on the media, national institutions, the private sector, non-governmental organisations, and local government institutions around the country to assist,” she stated.

On galamsey, she said, had become a national security issue, which was being handled by the security agencies, stating; “But at best, everybody can play some role by talking to the relatives of the illegal miners who live who live in the local communities – to say no to galamsey.”

“Before this galamsey became an issue for all of us, we have been mining gold and it was not polluting our water bodies. So, there is a right way to do it. Government is not against mining, but against mining that is polluting water bodies, especially the illegal mining,” she said.

Dr Joachim Ayiwe Abungba, Chairman and Head of Basin – Black Volta of the WRC took participants through the creation of a Tamale Water Fund, which seeks to solve some of the water supply challenges being faced in the area.

He mentioned some of problems as; poor quantity and quality of raw water for treatment by the Ghana Wate Company Limited, due to poor watershed management and changing land use pattern, increase in cropland in urban areas at the expense of shrubland, and the most serious the uncontrolled sand winning.

Dr Abungba said water tankers were now relied upon to meet water supply deficit posing significant health risk, adding that; “Tamale could easily reach a ‘Day Zero,’ when no water will flow through the taps to the people.”

He said the proposed solution to the problems was the creation of the Tamale Water Fund approach and that feasibility studies had been completed whiles the next steps were to engage with strategic stakeholders and partners (public, private and non-governmental organisations) to create the Fund within the laws of Ghana.