The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has directed the management of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to immediately commence a full-scale encroachment audit on its 46.5-kilometre pipeline between Kpong and Ashaiman.

The Minister gave the directive during an inspection tour of ongoing work at Gbetsile Junction in the Kpone Katamanso Municipality.

“We need to look at the contract to replace the 55-year-old pipelines. Some of them are corroded. You do not wait until there is a huge incident before you take action. We want quality water to be conceived, and we want to preserve the pipelines. There is a scheme of maintenance that we have put down. Enough notice will be given to consumers that maintenance works will be done, so they can store enough water.”

Speaking to journalists at the project site, the Managing Director of Ghana Water company, Ing. Clifford Braimah, said the replacement of the pipelines is necessary because they had outlived their usefulness.

“The pipelines have been here for over 50 years. We are losing a lot of water, sometimes about 50 percent, and that is why the Tema residents complain about the loss of water.”

The Ghana Water Company has already begun replacing the damaged pipelines.

The exercise has led to an interruption in the water supply in parts of Accra.