The Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam Nartey George has claimed that the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) is using an imported water treatment product instead of the conventional chlorine.
As per a story published on GhanaWeb, he claims that One Drop, a product that is scheduled to arrive in the country in two weeks, has been licensed by the regulatory organizations in Ghana for use as a disinfectant rather than for water purification.
In an interview that aired on Metro TV on February 1, 2024, Sam George claimed that Cecilia Dapaah, the troubled former minister, started the process
“In 1908, the colonial government introduced chlorine into the treatment of water in Ghana and chlorine is being used all over the world without a problem. All of a sudden somebody wakes up and decides that a product that has been refused by the UK and USA, which is of Norwegian origin but it is not being used by the people of Norway, is fit for use in Ghana.
“This whole thing started under the former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah and now, in about two weeks, the first shipment of the product called One Drop is arriving in Ghana and the Ghana Water Company is buying it to stop the use of chlorine in the treatment of our water”he said.
In the interview, the Ningo Prampram MP questioned the safety and efficacy of One Drop, saying that it was only approved as a disinfectant by the CRIR, EPA and FDA, and that it is currently being used for cleaning in hospitals and at the airport during the COVID pandemic.
“So far, it’s been checked by CRIR, EPA and the FDA but it was checked when they brought it in and approved it as a disinfectant. So as we speak today, the product is being used for cleaning in hospitals and also in Kotoka during the COVID,” he added.
He maintained that the introduction of One Drop could endanger Ghanaians’ health and environment because chlorine has proven to be a dependable and effective water treatment method.
“Chlorine has served us well. Even with that, we are still dealing with some level of contamination in our water. Now you are going to bring a product where the country in which the product is being manufactured, has not approved its use in the purification of its water,” he added.
NKONKONSA.com