A capacity building session for the Northern Regional Chapter of the Ghana WASH Journalists Network (GWJN) on water security reporting has been held in the Northern Regional capital, Tamale with a call on Media Practitioners to help protect the White Volta River.
It was organised by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Ghana, to find ways to avert the near-water security threat in the Northern Regional capital and its environs.
The White Volta River, which serves as the main source of raw water which is processed by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to supply portable water for the use by residents of Tamale and its surroundings, is currently experiencing high-level pollution, mainly due to sand mining activities in and along the river banks.
The Senior Project Officer at CRS, Mr. Richard Ntibrey, in his presentation explained that increased anthropogenic activities, including sand mining, farming activities, and the use of chemicals upstream of the White Volta River, where GWCL has its intake point, are threatening the river’s future capacity to supply the required volume of water to the metropolis and its environs.
According to Mr. Ntibrey, his organisation is working around the clock with its stakeholders, including the GWCL, Water Resources Commission, Northern Regional Coordinating Council, Coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to establish the “Tamale Water Fund” (TWF) to help save the White Volta River from extinction.
He explained that the TWF will create and enhance government mechanisms that will bring stakeholders around a common goal to contribute to water security through a nature-based solution and sustainable watershed management systems.
The TWF, the Senior Project Officer at CRS, said is envisioned to ensure water security in Tamale and its environs through a strategic partnership to use nature-based solutions to improve water quality and quantity, as well as to create a healthy environment to protect and enhance biodiversity within the White Volta Basin.
On his part, the National Organizing Secretary of GWJN, a body of professional journalists in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and Assistant Editor, GBCGHANAONLINE, Mr. Franklin Asare-Donkoh, in his opening remarks, admonished journalists, especially those in the Northern Region, to take an interest in the preservation of the White Volta River.
He also accentuated the need for media practitioners to constantly remind Ghanaians, particularly those living on the banks of rivers and forest reserves, of their actions and inactions that negatively affect the fortunes and future of the environment and water bodies.
“That is the surest means in the fight against water insecurity.”
Mr. Asare-Donkoh further called on media practitioners to prioritise WASH-related issues to help win the fight against illegal sand mining, indiscriminate dumping of waste, deforestation, and open defecation to protect and preserve the ecological space for generations yet unborn.
Jemilatu Mashood, Sector Influence Manager, CRS Ghana, also expressed confidence in the media practitioners in the fight against water insecurity issues in the region.
She was hopeful media persons will develop an interest in water security.
”Which will go a long way in making the water fund achieve its goal of finding lasting solution to Tamale’s Water Security Challenge.”