The Parliamentary Select Committee on Water, Works and Housing has directed the Berekum Municipal Assembly to protect the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) Treatment Plant in the Berekum Municipality.

Private developers have encroached on government lands, and new settlements are speedily springing up around the headworks, a situation which according to the Company threatened the Koraa River and the water treatment facility that provides potable water to the about 1,122 residents.

Mr John Nana Amoako, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Upper Denkyira East and the Chairman of the Committee, gave the directive when members of the Committee interacted with Mr Kofi Agyei, the Berekum Municipal Chief Executive during a visit to the area on Monday.

Nine out of the 18-member committee is undertaking a three-day working visit to inspect water projects in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions.

Nana Amoako noted after touring the facility that encroachment at the Berekum Head Works was unacceptable and therefore tasked the Assembly to take decisive and radical measures to protect the facility before the situation was out of control.

He emphasised that water remained an essential and basic necessity of life and affirmed the government’s determination to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal Six of ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030.

Nana Amoako underlined the need for the GWCL to collaborate effectively with the Municipal Assembly to remove all bottlenecks that impede frequent water supply in the Municipality.

Mr Andrews Asebre, the Station Manager of the Head Works, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that attempts to protect government lands around the facility from encroachment had been unsuccessful.

While warning prospective land buyers not to acquire land around the area, Mr Asebre advised developers to stop putting up structures and buildings around the facility before they were pulled down.

Mr Agyei assured the Committee that the Assembly would take immediate steps to drive away the encroachers to protect the facility from destruction.