The Friends of Rivers and Water bodies, a local NGO advocated a separate Ministry for Water to give priority attention to integrated water management. Nana Dwomoh Sarpong, President of this NGO and participating in the two-day conference of the Global Water Partnership (GWP) in Accra on integrated water resources management said although water management was under the Ministry of Works and Housing, it was not getting the needed focus because it was not the core concern of the sector. He said water is gradually becoming a scarce commodity in the country and yet there is no effective management to check its continuous misuse. Mr Jonathan Nunoo, Acting Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited, also told that the water crisis being experienced in Africa is the by-product of political instability and mismanagement hence the need for the political will to reverse the situation. He said most governments neglected water management for a long time leading to the break down of water systems and low tariffs paid by consumers for water supply.

Source: Accra Mail, 19 Jun 2002