The Minister of Water Resources Works and Housing, Alban Bagbin, has expressed concern about the activities of encroachers in the catchment area of the Weija Dam. He said despite attempts to rid the area of encroachers, the spate at which they were trooping in was very alarming, stressing that the invasion posed serious threat to the ecological system of the Weija Lake. “It is pathetic to witness wanton expansion of informal housing in sensitive areas of water security such as the catchment of the Weija dam. “As a national asset, we cannot sit by and close our eyes until the overall eco-system of the urban water supply reservoir becomes an ecological disaster,” he said. Mr. Bagbin expressed these concerns in an address read on his behalf by his deputy, Dr. Mustapha Ahmed, at a workshop organised by the Ga South Municipal Assembly to deliberate on measures to address the environmental threats to the Weija Dam. Participants at the workshop included representatives of the Ministries of Water Resources Works and Housing, Environment, Science and Technology, Local Government and Rural Development, Water Resource Commission, the National Security, among others. Mr. Bagbin said the Weija Dam was one of the nation’s basic assets and entreated the public, especially communities around the area, to protect it. The dam, he said, provided water for over two million people in Accra and, therefore, called for a non-partisan deliberation to address the problem. The Ga South Municipal Chief Executive, Nii Sheriff Otoo Dodoo, said the rapid urbanisation of the communities around the lake was having a toll effect on the dam and added that the lake needed to be protected to serve its purpose.