By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA
Accra, Dec. 3, GNA - Government of Ghana in collaboration with UNICEF, has constructed 40,348 household toilets to benefit 300,789 people under the Rural Sanitation Model and Strategy (RSMS), Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, has said.
The move, she said, has benefitted more than 3,000 communities, which have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) and helped to improve the sanitary conditions in those areas.
Addressing journalists at a media briefing in Accra on Tuesday, Madam Abena Dapaah said, government has constructed 21,332 household latrines in Tamale, Ho and Ashiaman, while 30 basic schools have gained access to improved toilet facilities under the Urban Sanitation Pilot Project.
The Ministry, through the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) and Water Project, has constructed 26,000 household toilets benefitting about 180,000 low income communities, she said.
Under the same project, Madam Dapaah said, 260 beneficiary schools have been provided with toilet facilities benefitting 200,000 school children, while it has initiated the construction of 2,000 household toilets within selected assemblies in the Ashanti, Western, Central and Northern regions.
More so, she said, the Ministry has initiated the construction of 654 boreholes, 621 of which are to be fitted with hand-pumps and 33 mechanised to benefit about 220,000 people.
Cabinet and Parliament in the course of the year, Madam Dapaah said, approved the Tamale and Yendi Water Supply projects with actual construction work due to start soon.
In addition, Cabinet approved the Wenchi Water Project and is yet to receive parliamentary approval, which is expected to benefit more than 100,000 inhabitants in the area.
The Minister said the Aqua Africa Water Project was coming on board and would construct 150-point sources and 12 Small Town Water Systems to serve 588 communities across five regions, including Volta, Oti, Greater Accra, Ashanti and Eastern regions, the Minister said.
Commenting on how her Ministry has managed the country’s sanitation situation over the past two year, Madam Abena Dapaah said, the Ministry supported some assemblies with 5,100 litter bins.
Those bins, she said, were placed along selected streets and public places in some regional capitals across the country including Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Tamale, Ho, Dambai and Cape Coast.
The Ministry also collaborated with the IRC to implement the UK-Aid funded Sanitation Challenge with a prize award worth £1.23 million aimed at promoting competition among the various assemblies.
The beneficiary assemblies, she said, were supposed to design, implement and innovate ideas for the management of their sanitation issues through internal resource mobilisation at the local level, with nine assemblies winning various sums of money and expected to utilize the prize amount to improve sanitation within their jurisdictions.
“We initiated a plan to introduce recycling as a key component of our waste management. As a Government, we encourage and support recycling.” the Minister said, and lauded the efforts of IRECOP, a private waste recycling initiative by Zoomlion, for undertaking recycling of waste with a plan to extend its services to all the regional capitals.
“It is worth noting that other private companies have also begun some small-scale recycling of waste. These are commendable and we all need to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit as they are creating job opportunities for the youth,” the Minister added.
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