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The Minister of Works, Housing and Water Resources, Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, has called on stakeholders in the water sector to strengthen collaboration and create synergies in their operations for efficient delivery of water services to Ghanaians.
Mr Adjei stressed that there was a need for synergy between both state and non-state water sector institutions and agencies because if they did not shake each other, their investments could be duplicated and, therefore, counterproductive.
Additionally, he said in an era when the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had ceased its investment across the world, affecting some water projects, the state and private sector needed to work closely together to prudently channel resources into water systems that would be of utmost benefit to the people.
He said this in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Works, Housing and Water Resources, Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui, at the opening session of the Safe Water Network’s ‘Beyond the Pipe Forum’ held in Accra on Wednesday (March 19).
The forum brought together global leaders and players in the water sector to explore bottlenecks to the efficient delivery of water services and solutions for safe water access in developing countries.
The forum was held on the theme: “Innovating for Sustainable Safe Water Access.”
Among the key issues discussed at the forum were enhancing water quality and safety through improved chlorination and monitoring, strengthening remote monitoring and digital tools to improve water systems performance and reducing non-revenue water through innovation in leak detection and efficient operations.
The minister described the theme of the forum as apt and timely because the country was at a critical point where access to water had become a critical development challenge.
He said in furtherance of the commitment made by President John Dramani Mahama in his maiden State of the Nation Address to Parliament - to expand water access for all Ghanaians, the Works and Water Resources Ministry would implement policies that would accelerate access to the resource.
In line with that resolve, he said ongoing water projects would be completed and new ones initiated at both the urban and rural levels "to ensure that every Ghanaian, regardless of where they live, enjoys the right to safe and reliable water."
He stressed that there would be more targeted investment in infrastructure, institutional reforms and digital innovation to drive progress.
"However, we recognise that the government alone cannot solve all the challenges in the water sector. Partnerships with non-state actors such as Safe Water Network, other members of the Safe Water Enterprises (SWE) Alliance, the private sector and development partners are not only welcome but essential," he said.
Speaking to the media at the event, Mrs Tetteh-Agbotui said one of the most challenging issues to access to quality water was the galamsey scourge.
"Galamsey has taken over our water quality, and it is pathetic to see how people suffer for water in communities and regions where the menace is rife. We are at a crisis point now, and all of us must play our roles as expected to help save our water bodies," she stressed.
Touching on the Blue Water initiative that was recently launched by the government in which 400 water guards were deployed to protect rivers, she said it was a great move to help bring back heavily polluted water bodies.
Contrary to criticisms that the initiative would not make any impact on the galamsey fight, she said "the people are taken from the community and they can help to fight galamsey if there is political will to do so."
"Inter-ministerial and inter-development partner collaborations are key in all of these," she added.
The deputy minister also said as a government that just took over a couple of months back, they were currently assessing water sector projects that had stalled and water systems that were malfunctioning, and collaborating with other state institutions to halt galamsey and other human activities that polluted water sources.
The Country Director of Safe Water Network Ghana and Lead for Africa initiatives, Charles Nimako, highlighted that over the past year, the entity had expanded to an additional 55,000 people in 10 communities across the country, taking their total coverage to 504,000 people in 158 communities.
He said when that number was added to what had been achieved by other implementers of water services, particularly Safe Water Enterprise Alliance, then more than two million Ghanaians would be reached with safe and affordable water.
Mr Nimako stressed that although that achievement was a key milestone, it was not "the finish line."
"In the coming months, we will continue to build on the progress we have made by strengthening the technical and financial resilience of our model, equipping local operators and field support teams, and aligning with government priorities as articulated in the President’s State of the Nation Address and the 2025 Budget that was delivered in Parliament," he added.
