Sanitation Ministry receives $1.5b to enhance water supply   

The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources has received an allocation of $1.5 billion to enhance the delivery of water supply to seven regions across the Country.

This will boost government’s agenda to supply portable water to every part of the Country.

Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Minister of Sanitation and Water resources said the allocation was due to the fact that her Ministry is among the priority sectors of the Government that needs special attention by the Ministry of Finance to provide the necessary budgets to meet its targets.

The Minister said 5 million people across the country from seven regions will have access to portable clean water as a result of the $1.5 billion funding to the sector.

A statement issued by the Ministry and copied to the Ghana News Agency made the announcement when she delivered a statement as the special guest of honour at the just ended IRC WASH Systems Symposium at held in The Hague, Netherlands.

The Minister said Ghana’s planning policy was now defined by strong partnership with the private sector for solid and liquid waste management, hence, 80 per cent of the 1,800 tons of solid waste generated daily in the country was handled by the private sector, which operates basically on cost recovery basis through franchise arrangement.

Ms Dapaah said the allocation of the funds would facilitate the provision of water to all parts of the country in line with government’s objectives.

The International Symposium was organized under the auspices of the International Resource Centre for Water and Sanitation in partnership with stakeholders including the Washington based Sanitation and Water for all, Water Aid and Conrad Hilton Foundation.

Ms Dapaah said per the mandate of the Ministry in achieving the objectives of the SDG 6, the Ministry had revised and subsequently launched the National Guideline Policy for targeting the poor and vulnerable for basic Sanitation Services in Ghana.

With regards to Rural Water delivery for the rural WASH sector, the Minister said that the country had 1,022 piped water system and 32,656 boreholes fitted with hand pumps.

This translates to 62 per cent national coverage of water in the rural areas. She, however, noted that one of the major challenges in the area of rural water supply was the frequent breakdown of water systems, which was more than 35 per cent resulting into high non –revenue water estimated between 45 to 60 percent.

Ms Dapaah, however, said her Ministry was supporting the Community Water and Sanitation Agency to initiate policy reforms to deal with sustainability issues through resource mobilization,
The support also includes investing in the rehabilitation of 100 water systems and the engagement of 700 professionals in the water sector.

These interventions, she said would reduce non-revenue water from 60 percent to 25 percent by 2025.
She said government had attracted funding to achieve water supply and delivery for all.

Touching on Urban water, the Minister said access to urban water was currently 88 percent and the expected target of 100 percent access would be achieved by 2030 through the policies being initiated and implemented by the government.

She however, acknowledged the challenges in the operations of the private sector, which includes equipment holding capacity, inadequate standard infrastructure and cost of operations, which the Ministry is working to address.

Ms Dapaah used the platform to tout the investment opportunities in the country especially in the WASH sector.

She said the Ministry had a lot of intervention programmes, which needed support, mentioning the Community Led Total Sanitation Program and the implementation of the Pro-Poor Policy Guideline Document targeting the poor and vulnerable for basic sanitation services.

The Minister further commended the World Bank and the African Development for their support, which had provided subsidy intervention programmes in the Country.

The Symposium provided the opportunity and the platform for Ghana to highlight the major achievements in the water and sanitation sector and also court international support with decision makers, thinkers and implementation agencies on how to deliver sustainable WASH Services, the statement added.
Source: GNA