It is now becoming a ritual for government officials and the Ghana Water Company to constantly warn the public about the danger their activities very close to the dam pose to the survival of the water treatment plant.

From pollution of the river Densu; the main source of water to the dam, encroachment beyond 500 meters of demarcation, and building on the waterway, the dam continues to face danger from the human activities in its catchment area.

It is these threats that led the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Dr. Freda Prempeh, to pay a working visit to the area, and following what she saw, she ordered encroachers building close to the dam to desist from it or risk being prosecuted, and their buildings pulled down by the National Security.

According to our report which is our today’s banner story, she told the en­croachers that, it was illegal for structures to be put up less than 500 meters away from the dam, adding that, such activities had the ten­dency of causing destruc­tion over time.

She reminded that ensuring encroachers stayed away from the country’s dams was the responsibility of all including the sector ministry and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).

She, therefore, called on the municipal and dis­trict assemblies to ensure permits were not issued to people for construction to be undertaken at unautho­rised places.

“We have been saying this all the time but still there appear to be some recalcitrant individuals therefore while we take strong measures to salvage the situation, we must also appeal to our major stake­holders including opinion leaders and assemblies to work collaboratively with the ministry and the GWCL to protect our water bodies and dams,” she said.

This is not the first time that such a stern warning has been issued to members of the public in respect of the negative activities they engage in around the dam which can lead to its destruction.

Surprisingly, all the appeals and warnings have so far fallen on deaf ears while the encroachments continue beyond the buffer zone of the Densu Riv­er which feeds the Weija Dam, a crucial national as­set providing potable water for thousands of residents of the central and western parts of Accra.

The Ghanaian Times agrees with the Minister that the Ministry and the Ghana Water Company as well as National Security should take immediate steps to stop the encroach­ers once and for all.

It is better to prevent a disaster now than wait for one to occur in the near future. This is the time for a decisive action to demol­ish all the buildings that are sited beyond the 500-metre boundary to be demolished to save the dam.

If we leave it to the members of the public who are engaged in illegal activities, they would not volunteer to pull down the illegal structure so therefore, some force must be applied to save the dam.

We cannot afford the dam that supplies water to millions of Ghanaians. The consequences would be dire. We must take a deci­sive action now.