Water Resources Commission launches anniversary celebrations

Nsawam, May 7, GNA - Mrs Cecilia Dapaah, Minister of State for Water Resources Works and Housing, on Wednesday stressed the need for water resources to be managed to secure adequate and reliable supply of it to support socio economic development. She said they should be managed to protect the gains of development from the potential damaging impacts of "too much or too little water resulting from floods or droughts".

Mrs Dapaah was speaking at the launch of the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Water Resources Commission (WRC) at Nsawam. She said that situation justified the establishment and existence of the commission as one of the key water sector institutions to serve as the pivot for the implementation of water management and development decisions.

Mrs Dapaah urged the commission to use the anniversary celebrations for serious reflections over the past and the possible repositioning to chart a new and progressive course. She said the introduction of the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) by the commission had laid a solid foundation towards the promotion of a change from the unsuitable to the sustainable management of water resources through widening the analytic framework.

Mrs Dapaah said a major challenge that the commission had to address was how to sensitize the general public with the view to facilitating changes in behaviour and personal attitudes among water consumers and to promote better understanding of the environment in a water context. Mr Kwadwo Affram Asiedu, Eastern Regional Minister, urged the commission to reflect over the past years of its existence and take a critical stock of its performance. He advised the commission to rekindle with zeal, its commitment towards the institutional decentralization for water resources management. Mr Affram Asiedu reminded the commission that the region had more basins that also required special attention and that the Birim and the Ayensu were potential basins that had their special problems affecting many people who depended on their water resources. 07 May 08