Ghana to preserve natural water sources for sustainability

The government of Ghana would deepen its efforts to protect and preserve the sanctity and quality of the country’s water resources to ensure sustainability and meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an official declared on Wednesday.

Amidu Issahaku Chinnia, deputy minister for sanitation and water resources, made this pledge at the opening of the 2024 water, housing, and construction exhibition and conference.

“The vision of Ghana’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) sector is improved access to safe, affordable, reliable, and sustainable water, environmental sanitation, and hygiene services by 2030, in line with the UN SDGs for the sector,” Chinnia said.

He said despite the strides Ghana has made in bridging the gap in access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation services so far, in line with the vision, challenges still remain in the sector ahead of the 2030 due date for meeting the SDG targets.

The deputy minister said the government aims to deal with these challenges to ensure that the country meets the goals on schedule and ensures universal access to WASH services.

“We shall address the challenges of deteriorating water quality emanating from human activities, inadequate access to safe water supply, especially in low-income areas, high population density in urban and peri-urban areas, as well as inadequate access to sanitation and hygiene services,” the deputy minister pledged.

The Water Africa and West Africa Building and Construction Exhibition and Seminar, which brings together manufacturers of equipment and materials used in the water, sanitation, and construction industries, has been running in Ghana for 30 years.