11.2 C
London
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Over 40,000 household toilets provided for communities under RSMS project

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
ModelĀ  and Strategy (RSMS), Madam Cecilia
Abena Dapaah, the Minister of SanitationĀ 
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 countryā€™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 Ā£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.

ā€œWe initiated a plan
to introduce recycling as a key component of our waste management. As a
Government, we encourage and support recycling.ā€ 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.

ā€œIt 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,ā€ the Minister
added.

GNA

Latest news

Related news