The Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing has backed Ghana Water Company’s intent to introduce water prepaid metering services in the country.

The sector Minister, Collins Dauda said the prepaid metering for water was necessitated by the willful nonpayment of water bills by majority of Ghanaians.

The proposal, according to the Ghana Water Company, is part of measures to curtail the physical and commercial losses incurred by the company.

But civil society groups such as ISODEC and the Universal Access to Healthcare have kicked against the proposal, arguing that its introduction will lead to an increase in water-borne diseases like cholera.

But Collins Dauda in an interview with CitiNews believes the water prepaid metering system is the only way they can make profit.

“The time to introduce prepaid metering in the water sector is now. [This is] to deal with the inefficiencies in the system” he stressed.

Contrary to claims that the prepaid system will worsen the health condition of consumers, he stated that it will rather ensure efficiency in water distribution.

“If we don’t have efficient water distribution [system] and people are relying on unsafe water, will there not be an increase in water borne diseases?", he quizzed.

Collin Dauda therefore said there is no cause for alarm because the water prepaid metering system is nothing new.