EXPERTS DRAW PLANS FOR MANAGEMENT OF VOLTA RIVER (PAGE 3, DEC 12)

EXPERTS from six West African countries forming the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) are to draw a strategic plan towards the sustainable utilisation and management of the water resources of the Volta River.
A meeting of the technical experts, currently taking place in Accra, will herald the Third Ministerial Council session of the Volta Basin Authority scheduled for December 15 to discuss the strategic plan.
The six countries are Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire.
Mr Albert Abongo, the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, who opened the meeting, said regional integration was an important trigger and a panacea for the realisation of national development agendas.
He said it was against that backdrop that Ghana and its neighbours sharing the resources of the Volta had demonstrated genuine concern to develop and realise the optimum utilisation and management of the shared water resources.
Mr Abongo, whose speech was read on his behalf by his deputy, Alhaji Sani Iddi, said after a short period the collective efforts and co-operation had culminated in the establishment of the Volta Basin Authority.
He said the VBA was envisaged to promote the proper management and development of the water resources, as well as ensure the equitable sharing of the benefits accruing from the exploitation of the resources.
The minister commended members of the technical experts committee for their immense contribution and commitment leading to the setting up of the VBA as a recognised international organisation.
He said with the convention finally in force, VBA had entered into a new permanent phase of making VBA viable and a model institution worthy of emulation
He, therefore, urged the technical team to view the meeting as a unique session that ought to be conducted with commitment, understanding and consensus building.
Dr Abongo said it was important to fashion innovative programmes and plans that would elicit the needed support and draw in the required participation of all key national and regional stakeholders.
Mr Ben Ampomah, the Executive Secretary of the Water Resources Commission (WRC), said the meeting was designed to deliberate on pertinent plans and programmes that aimed at further strengthening the institutional set-up and capacity of the authority.
Mr Ampomah urged the technical team to extend its support to the Executive Directorate of VBA in the execution of its functions, especially in its relationship with the national focal bodies.
Dr Charles Biney, the Executive Director of VBA, said the authority was fortunate because it had the opportunity of learning from other older and well-established basin organisations not only in West Africa but also from all over the world, and that had helped to ease tension and conflict among nations using common water resources.