The Western Regional Minister, Joseph Nelson, has instructed Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to swiftly mark out and protect buffer zones around the Daboase water treatment facility.
The directive seeks to protect the €70 million water expansion project from encroachment by landowners who claim they didn’t know the area was restricted.
The Daboase water treatment plant, built in the late 1960s with a capacity of six million gallons per day, alongside the four million-gallon Inchaban plant, is currently struggling to keep up with the water needs of Sekondi-Takoradi and nearby communities.
Due to increased turbidity from illegal mining, water output has drastically dropped from 6 million gallons daily to just over 16,000 gallons.
The Western Regional Production Manager of GWCL, Gideon Asare Annor explained that, Invasion of the buffer zones poses an additional threat to the water source, especially during the dry season.
During his tour of the plant, Minister Nelson ordered GWCL to erect signposts demarcating the buffer zones and cautioned that failure to respect these boundaries would lead to prosecution.
“The chiefs who sold land within the buffer zone claim ignorance. I urge the District Chief Executive to make it clear that such actions are illegal and endanger the region’s water supply,” he said.
The €70 million project, launched in May 2022 by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources and GWCL, is being carried out by Austrian construction company Strabag.
Project Manager Vlad Falup announced that the project is 86% complete, with final work ongoing on a high-lift pumping station, and expects completion by November 7, 2025.
