Ghanaians have to brace up for any eventuality in the water sector as the deadline given to Aqua Vitens Rand Ltd. (AVRL), expires today.

Today’s ultimatum was agreed upon by the workers of Ghana Water Company Ltd. (GWCL) as the last the last grace period in the face of deliberate delays by AVRL to satisfy them over grievances and petitions submitted to them some time ago. After several meetings and actions, culminating in a demonstration last Friday against the continuous stay of AVRL and their under performance, no action appears to be taken by the managers of GWCL to address the concerns of workers.

The concerns include the lack of adequate increase in salary, the deliberate divide-and-rule tactics which ensure that a few workers benefit more at the expense of the majority and the inability of AVRL to bring any changes to the water sector.

The workers earlier on threatened to disrupt water supply to the entire country at an announced date if government does not abrogate the management contract with AVRL, an agreement they described as “useless and wasteful.”

A scheduled meeting between management and workers over the issue was intentionally postponed by AVRL to buy some time and that infuriated the workers the more. With the die now cast, it appears from information The Daily Democrat is picking, that Ghana would soon experience one of the most serious water crises in its history. The likely disruption in water supply is expected to affect the entire nation and those living in the urban areas, which depend solely on pipe-borne water, are likely to be worst affected. Under a management agreement signed under the Kufuor administration, AVRL is to manage GWCL, in the production and supply of water to the entire nation.

Interestingly, the agreement provides that GWCL should assess the performance of AVRL to ensure that they abide by the demands of the agreement.

AVRL’s performance has come under scrutiny due to their failure to increase the production ad supply of water, a situation that reflects in the increase of residents of many areas carrying yellow gallons, popularly known as “Kufuor gallons” in search of water because their taps are not flowing with the second most vital need of human beings.