Ghana’s 14% performance in sanitation is terrible – Dep. Local Gov’t Minister

Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, has said Ghana’s 14% performance in sanitation was terrible with only four years to 2015.

He said with that performance the governments of Ghana and the Netherlands are to start a project in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) to improve on the living conditions of the urban poor.

Mr Ankrah said this when Mr Ben Knapen, Netherlands Minister of European Affairs and International Cooperation, called on him in Accra on Tuesday.

The five-year project is aimed at improving sustainable uptake and access to urban water, sanitation and hygienic services among pupils in four municipalities, especially targeting the poorest and the vulnerable groups.

He said the 100 million Euros project, which is a grant from the Dutch government, would start with the sustainable behavioural change and learning among pupils in hand washing and other areas of hygiene.

Mr Ankrah said Ghana had joined the sanitation and water for all partnership that seeks to ensure that water and sanitation service are accessible.

“The project is an integrated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene which seeks to address urban WASH challenges in the municipalities particularly infrastructure and financing mechanism for water supply and sanitation through micro-finance and public-private partnership,” he said.

“Ghana has made tremendous strikes in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in critical areas including poverty reduction, primary education and infant mortality,” he said.

Mr Knapen said the project was intended to establish best practice for the urban WASH improvement in the country.

He said the project targeted Cape Coast and Elmina municipalities in the Central Region and Ga South and Ga West Municipalities in the Greater Accra Region.

Mr Knapen said the project would increase capacity of the local government to provide sustainable water and sanitation to the communities and that the pivotal role of the youth in behavioural change was key to a sustained improvement in the health of the people.

Dr Mustapha Ahmed, the Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, appealed to the Dutch Government to extend the project to Nima and Osu Oxford street.

He commended the Netherlands for its  interest in the project that would bring relief to urban dwellers.

Source: GNA