11-Member board, other committees inaugurated for Sanitation Ministry

An 11-member governing board and two committees have been inaugurated for the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources.

The committees are the Audit and Entity Tender.

The board, which is chaired by the sector Minister, Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah, is in compliance with the Civil Service Act, 1993 (Act 327).

Other members are from the Water Resources Commission (WRC), the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), and the Jospong Group of Companies.

The six-member Audit Committee which is a requirement of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (PFMA 921), comprised members from the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana, and the sector ministry.

The nine-member Entity Tender Committee is in accordance with the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) and the Public Procurement (Amendment) Act, 2016 (Act 914). It is chaired by the sector minister and made up of members from the WRC, the Attorney-General's Department, the Ghana Institute of Engineers and the Ghana Institution of Surveyors.

Renewed effort

Ms Dapaah said the government would stop at nothing to ensure that the renewed efforts to fight illegal mining, especially in water bodies, yielded the desired results.

"We have been measuring the turbidity of the water bodies and have realised that since the renewed efforts to fight galamsey started till now, the turbidity has been improving, which means that the water is regaining its colour; but we will continue to push hard until we get clean water to drink," she added.

The minister said this in an interview with the Daily Graphic shortly after inaugurating the board and committees.

She also said her outfit had, in collaboration with other state agencies, begun planting trees in buffer zones of about 100 metres from water bodies.

"Traditionally, nobody should be mining around these buffer zones; so we urge people to stay off these restricted areas of our water bodies so that we can preserve the water for ourselves and the next generation," the minister said.

She urged all citizens to help fight the menace to restore sanity to the country's rivers and other water bodies.

Appreciation

On behalf of members of the board, the Chairman of CONIWAS, Mr Atta Arhin, expressed appreciation for the confidence reposed in them and gave an assurance that the board would work hard to deliver on its mandate.

He said members would bring experience from their respective expertise on board to support the ministry in the implementation of its policies.