Mr. Francis Mensah, Chief Manager Ashanti North of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has expressed worry over the rampant theft of the company’s meters in the various communities.
According to him, most of the meters were being stolen on a daily basis, thus affecting their mandate to deliver in providing clean and quality water to the citizens.
Speaking at the World Water Day celebration at Moshie Zongo, a suburb of Kumasi recently, Mr. Mensah appealed to the communities to be vigilant and help Ghana Water Company protect the meters and illegal connection by unscrupulous individuals.
The day was marked with support from partners such as the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Project Coordinating Unit of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) Sanitation Water Project, World Bank, Water WorX, UNICEF and Water Users Associations.
The theme for the 2023 World Water Day was: “Accelerating Change: Mobilising Household to Connect to GWCL Pipe Network.”
The GWCL manager proposed the initiation of watchdog committees to ensure that the meters are protected to stop the perpetrators from the act.
Madam Faustina Boakye of the Low-Income Customer Support Department (LICSD) explained that the recognition of the importance that water played in the lives of individuals and societies, informed the celebration of World Water Day each year on March 22.
According to her, as groups and individuals across the globe mark the 2023 World Water Day, the GWCL had also demonstrated to citizens of Ghana and international stakeholders that, the company had a strong inclination to meeting the water needs of all people nationwide.
She stated that, the company believed that social and financial inequities should not translates into further inequalities in accessing and using safe water by all Ghanaians, especially children, women, the aged and the marginalised.
Madam Boakye noted that, the Ghana Water Company Limited had engaged community leaders and members of Moshie Zongo and other surrounding communities to pay subsidised fees to connect to the company’s water distribution network.
This, she said, was to ensure the desired change by bridging the inequality gap between the urban rich and poor.
