Government calls for private sector investment in WASH
Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, says government is ready to partner with private investors in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector to turn the current seemingly helpless sanitation situation into viable job creation opportunities for the youth.
He said government would continue to create the needed enabling environment and therefore welcomed private sector investment in sanitation and water supply, especially in the areas of innovative technologies, infrastructure and services.
In a speech read on his behalf at the ongoing 28th Edition of the Mole Conference Series in Accra by Mr Michael Gyato, Deputy Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Dr Bawumia called on all private investors, young university graduates, civil engineers, business-minded people, and academia, to explore business opportunities in the water and sanitation challenge to help solve the problem, while creating jobs.
He was cited in a press release issued to the GNA by the Resource Centre Network (RCN) Ghana.
H said government, as part of efforts to tackle the dwindling funding for the WASH sector, was working to mop up domestic funds to provide the needed infrastructure for the delivery of quality water and sanitation services in the country, and assured of government’s commitment to establishing the Sanitation Fund as captured in the NPP’s manifesto.
“To give the new WASH sector a clear sense of focus and direction, the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Mr. Joseph Kofi Adda has announced that an Integrated Strategy for Water and Sanitation with an action plan would soon be rolled out and that out of the strategy, a policy document has been drafted for cabinet’s consideration in the establishment of the national Sanitation Authority (NSA), as indicated in the 2017 national budget statement,” the release said.
Delivering an address on the theme: “Ghana’s Lower Middle Income Status: Implications for Sustainable WASH Services Delivery”, Professor Christopher Gordon, Director of the Institute of Environment and Sanitation Studies (IESS) of the University of Ghana, described the practice of Open Defecation (OD) as a disgrace to Ghana, adding that every child who died from an avoidable diseases was an indictment on the nation.
He said Ghanaians should take charge and ownership, and accept their responsibility as a people for fixing the problems that existed in sanitation and water, in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) goal 6 targets.
Currently organised by the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), the Mole Conference Series has witnessed consistent growth of interest and importance since its inception in 1989 among civil society, policy makers, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, local government, private sector and development partners alike. The conference has evolved from what was primarily an NGO forum into a multi-stakeholder platform within the WASH Sector in Ghana.
Source: GNA