The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources has commended the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) for backup systems put in place to avert disaster from spillage from the Weija dam and its environs.

The Ministry has also cautioned people about building close to the dam particularly within the buffer zone saying their lives will be at risk when the need arises for spillage not forgetting the recent disaster in the Volta Region during a spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams.

The Minister, Dr. Freda Prempeh made these remarks during a working visit to the Weija water treatment plant and Kpone landfill site to have firsthand information about the operations of the two projects in Accra.

She praised GWCL for rolling out Amps to monitor the consumption, and distribution of water usage and its flows to respective communities in the country.

The Minister however expressed worry about the massive encroachment on the banks of the Densu river and urged management of GWCL to engage the Assemblies to collectively work together in finding a lasting solution to the menace.

“A stitch in time saves nine”, the Minister quoted thus work closely with the respective Assemblies before any disaster strikes, adding that they must involve the national security and military personnel to effectively and efficiently carry out the monitoring.

Besides, challenges that came up during the tour in and around the dam were the rampant sand winning near the dam by unscrupulous people which has affected the smooth operations, an abandoned land fill site and the invasion of algae plants along the river turning it into a greenish colour.

According to GWCL, these challenges have impacted negatively on operations leading to a huge treatment of water and have also burdened pipelines and other equipment of the facility.

In a remark, the Production Manager of the GWCL, Ing. Dr. Hadisu Alhassan said the company have put in place fervent preparations in their maintenance culture and described the gesture as one of the top priorities of the company saying it has demonstrated sound service delivery for consumers and the region at large.

According to him, the company engages in periodic spillage with smart mechanisms to avoid destruction of homes and activities along the waterway and was quick to recall the destruction of the Kpong and Akosombo dam spillage which affected goods and services in the catchment areas.

“We occasionally spill to preserve the dam from breaking down as a result of the intake of certain maximum of water”, he said, and explained that management keeps monitoring the level of water intermittently.

At the Kpong landfill site, the Minister was briefed on the progress of work at the site as Zoomlion, a waste collection company has partnered with foreign companies in the segregation of liquid and solid waste in converting them into commercial and viable purposes.

Ing. Kwadwo Osei, Head of Project at the site said the company is exploring possible ways of extracting gas and other products from the processing of the waste and was quick to announce that the process still indicates that they have not found gas in commercial quantities.

For his part, Ing. Felix Astrim, Lead Consultant for FEDEMS Limited said other options are been applied to obtain the needed resources from the landfill site for commercial use.