3 weeks ago
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The Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) have exceeded their target under the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, Sanitation and Water Project (SWP), with barely three months to the close of the project.
In the Greater Accra, the target of 19,100 household toilet facilities were exceeded to 28,541, while the target of 30,000 for Greater Kumasi has exceeded to 35,000.
Similarly, a target of 120 institutional toilet facilities in the GKMA, have jumped to 129.
Project Coordinator, George Asiedu, mentioned these to The Ghanaian Times during the inauguration of two institutional toilet facilities at the Osei Kyeretwie Senior High School at the weekend.
It is recalled, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, in November 19, 2021, launched the GKMA-SWP as part of the government’s pragmatic measures to find a lasting solution to the water and sanitation problems in the country.
The World Bank funded project was expected to construct 30,000 household toilet facilities in the GKMA before the close of the project in December 2024, with the bio-digester toilet system being the main containment technology.
It was an extension of the GAMA- SWP which started from 2015.
After a successful project implementation at the end of 2020, the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, with financing and technical support from the World Bank, agreed to extend the project to Greater Kumasi until the end of 2024.
In Kumasi, the project is being implemented in eight Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies (MMAs) – Asokwa, Oforikrom, old Tafo, Suame, Kwadaso, Asokore Mampong Municipal Assembly, Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and Ejisu Municipality.
Mr Asiedu stressed his outfit’s commitment to ensuring that the World Bank vision of achieving SDG 6 goal was realised by ensuring sanitation hygiene to every Ghanaian, especially those within GAMA and GKMA towards extending the project to other parts of the country.
According to Mr Asiedu, the project had temporarily suspended the registration of new people to give room for the provision of the excess 5,000 household toilet facilities, “because we cannot give back the money to the beneficiaries.”
Furthermore, he said, “between now and December, the remaining 5,000 toilet facilities would be built for the beneficiaries.”
As part of the inauguration, the Ministry donated sanitary materials (toilet rolls, detergents, sanitisers, etc.) to the school as well as five months salary of the caretaker of the facilities.
The Project Coordinator pointed out that the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources was looking for more funding to resume the project.
The Government absorbed over 75 per cent of the cost of construction of the toilets, with households paying only GH¢1, 200.00 for a complete toilet and GH¢700.00 for bio-digester if they had the toilet building already.
Mr Asiedu, however, mentioned that fees to be paid when the project resumed would go up, saying that those who paid GH¢1,200.00 for the stand alone facility would pay GH¢2,000.00 with those who paid GH¢700.00 to pay GH¢1,000 plus.
The total cost of the project funded by the World Bank was $125 million out of which $51,550 million has been allocated for water supply which was being managed by the Ghana Water Company Limited with the sanitation component having $73,450 million.
FROM KINGSLEY E. HOPE, KUMASI
