Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has indicated government’s preparedness to partner with private investors in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector, to turn the current seemingly helpless sanitation situation into viable job creation opportunities for the youth.
He said government would continue to create the needed enabling environment and therefore, welcomes private sector investment in sanitation and water supply, especially in the areas of innovative technologies, infrastructure and services.
In a speech read on behalf of the vice president at the ongoing 28th edition of the Mole Conference Series in Accra by a deputy Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Mr. Michael Gyato, called on all private investors, young university graduates, civil engineers, all business-minded people, the academia, to explore business opportunities in the water and sanitation challenge to help us solve the problem while we create jobs.
As part of efforts to tackle the dwindling funding for the WASH sector, Dr. Bawumia said government was working assiduously to mop up domestic funds to provide the needed infrastructure for the delivery of quality water and sanitation services in Ghana, and further assured of government’s commitment to establishing the Sanitation Fund as captured in “our party’s manifesto.”
To give the new WASH sector a clear sense of focus and direction, Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Mr. Joseph Kofi Adda, announced that an integrated strategy for water and sanitation with an action plan would soon be rolled out, and that out of the strategy a policy document has been drafted for cabinet’s consideration in the establishment of the national Sanitation Authority (NSA) as indicated in the 2017 national budget statement.
Speaking on the theme: “Ghana’s Lower Middle Income Status: Implications for Sustainable WASH Services Delivery,” Director of the Institute of Environment and Sanitation Studies (IESS) of the University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Christopher Gordon, described the practice of Open Defecation (OD) as a disgrace to Ghana, adding that every child who dies from an avoidable diseases was an indictment on the nation.
He said Ghanaians should take charge and ownership and accept the responsibility as a people of fixing the problems we had in sanitation and water in order to achieve the SDG 6 targets.
Story: News Desk
