Lack of Managerial Skills Affects Water Supply

The Director of Water Research Institute, Mr. Charles Biney says Ghana is endowed with a lot of water resources but managerial problems has made its supply insufficient.

He said there is therefore, the need for a water policy that would assist in the planning ahead of time, the different uses of water as well as knowing the places where it is most needed.

Mr. Biney, who was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra said people are normally satisfied with short-term plans and forget about the future.

He attributed the insufficient supply of water to environmental hazards created by human activities such as throwing of waste into the rivers and dams that reduces the volume of water.

He said the problem is aggravated by the movement of people from the rural areas to the urban centres thereby, creating a lot of pressure on the few water sources available.

The Director said the capacity of the Waste Management Department needs to be strengthened and the skills of personnel upgraded.

Mr Biney said it is to address some of these problems that a Water Commission was established which also created the Densu Management Board to manage the Densu River Basin because it is the most urbanised and problematic.

He said the solution is an integrated system and people's minds need to be changed, otherwise nothing would be achieved.

Mr. Biney said a number of educational programmes such as World Environment Day, have been organised to sensitise the people to appreciate their role in the preservation of the environment.