Ghana needs $2b to meet SDG target on sanitation – Minister
At least $2 billion is required in capital investments to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target on Sanitation, Mr Amidu Issahaku Chinnia, the Deputy Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, has said.
He said the provision of household toilet facilities alone would consume $1.41 billion of the amount while sanitation services, including emptying and treatment, would cost an estimated $103.3 million.
Per the breakdown, $85.1 million and $146 million respectively, will be used for schools and healthcare and sanitation facilities.
Mr Chinnia was speaking at the opening of the 33rd Annual Mole Conference on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) at Elmina in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality.
The platform, named after the venue of the maiden edition, Mole in the Northern Region of Ghana, is organised by the coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS).
The five-day conference is being held on the theme: “Ghana’s Commitment to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH): Connecting Systems to Bridge Service Delivery Gaps.”
It is aimed at analysing the complex mix of interventions and the systems required to deliver sustainable WASH services to the people, particularly the poor and vulnerable.
The Deputy Minister said Ghana was making efforts to improve the WASH sector and that sanitation projects, totalling $500 million, have been implemented since 2010.
About 60 per cent of the investment focused on non-sewered sanitation and condominium sewages to help take additional funding to bridge the existing gap in sanitation management.
Mr Chinnia noted that the country had made remarkable progress in the delivery of safe drinking water with about 87.7 per cent Ghanaians on track to achieving basic access to the SDGs.
He said there was the need to focus on delivering comprehensive district–wide sanitation services to meet the set targets.
“We need to take water quality seriously, as five-ten-point sources and eight out of ten household water is contaminated with E-coli,” he added.
The Deputy Minister, however, called for vigorous public education and sensitisation on how to keep water from the point of fetch to the point of use.
On challenges facing safe water delivery, he mentioned “galamsey” as the greatest challenge and called on stakeholders to make their voices heard on the ongoing discussions, aimed at halting illegal mining in the country.
Mrs Ama Ofori Antwi, the Executive Secretary of Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), pledged the Association’s commitment to working closely with the government to promote good water, sanitation and hygiene delivery in the country to achieve the SDG Six target by 2030.
Source: GNA