The Executive Secretary of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Dr. Shafic Suleman, as part of his Nationwide Tour of the Utility Service Providers, paid a working visit to the Western Regional office of GWL on April 10, 2025.

Dr. Suleman commended the GWL team on their hard work, expressing that he is highly impressed with the unique strategies taken to resolve their water shortage that have stemmed from the small-scale illegal mining (galamsey) operations. He also added that the extreme siltation of the Bonsa river sends an alarm nationally, thus, stakeholders must pay critical attention to Ghana’s water bodies.

Dr. Suleman urged PURC in collaboration with GWL to create a shared virtual platform for key stakeholders, including the Regional Minister and chiefs, to facilitate the dissemination of communiques on utility challenges. “The PURC has an open-door policy, waiting to provide all the support it can render at the Local and National level. On the tariff increment passed, I advise the utility to be relentless in enhancing the quality of customer service as a means for consumers to see and appreciate the value for their money” he said.

The Director for Regional Operations, Alhaji Jabaru Abukari, urged GWL to adopt a strategy of documenting all water shortage challenges through consolidated reports. This will ease tracking and resolution of challenges at the National level. The GWL team clarified that generally, they hardly have electricity challenges, except for their borehole water plant located at Elubo, which faces erratic power supply. Alhaji Jabaru further advised them to engage influential local chiefs with similar presentations to raise regional awareness.

The Western Regional Chief Manager of GWL, Ing. Richard Esuon, briefed the PURC delegation on GWL’s operations. He indicated that:

1. The total number of Staff was 334
2. Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) served are 9 out of 14 in the Western Region. Notable among them are Daboase, Inchaban, Bonsa and Axim. Inchaban has the oldest treatment plant, constructed in 1914. Inchaban and Daboase play critical roles in the augmentation of water load balance between Sekondi and Takoradi.
3. Water Sources: There are 4 surface water systems and 38 borehole systems, with entire plant capacities amounting to 51,917m³/day.
4. Pipeline Capacity is 727.4km, with the longest pipeline found in Sekondi, followed by Tarkwa, then Takoradi North and South.
5. Challenges of the GWL-WR include, but are not limited to, human activities that reduce inflow of water (i.e. Siltation from construction and galamsey activities); non-payment of bills by customers; water theft; meter vandalism; and poor integrity of old pipelines.
6. Interventions have been made by GWL-WR to address these challenges. They are the completion of the first phase of the Sekondi-Takoradi pipeline expansion awaiting a second phase, which will increase water production at the Daboase Treatment Plant from 27,000m³/day to 100,000m³/day. The GWL-WR team have also reinstated the Bosomase intake, conducted pipeline relocations to ensure continued operations in spite of construction exercises affecting pipelines, and extended the 160km HDPE pipeline at Aboadze, among others.

In his concluding remarks, Dr. Suleman emphasized the important role of future collaborations in a quest to resolve all challenges outlined by GWL. “I assure the GWL team of PURC’s continued support. The Executive Secretary, along with the PURC Regional Manager, thanked GWL for their warm reception.

The Executive Secretary’s Team included: Alhaji Abukari Jabaru- Director, Regional Operations and Consumers Services; Ing. Frederick Amui Oblitey- Director Energy and Performance Monitoring; Dr. Eric Kofi Obutey- Director, Research and Corporate Affairs. The others are Mr. Leon Acquauye- Deputy Director Regional Operations and Consumer Services; Dr. Robert Tia Abdulai Aziz- Head Corporate Affairs; Ms. Fauzia Tanko, Secretary to the Executive Secretary; and Ms. Elizabeth Cudjoe, Finance Department.

The western Regional team included: Ms. Joyceline Hudson-Regional Manager; Yaw Twum Barimah- Assistant Manager; Alex Owureku- Senior Admin. Assistant; Erick Awuku-Asistant Officer; Perpetual Obeng-Ochere- Assistant Officer.