Story By Enock Akonnor (enockakonnor2013@gmail.com)
The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources has so far constructed 1,049 household toilet facilities within the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) under the GAMA Sanitation and Water Project.
Per the breakdown; 388 bio digester lavatories have been constructed at Ejisu, 135-Oforikrom, 131- Kwadaso, 113-Suame, 88-Kumasi, 87-Old Tafo, 61-Asokore Mampong and 46-Asokwa Municipal Assemblies.
This was disclosed at a 2-day training event held in Kumasi by officials of implementing organization Niewtree Ghana Limited (a Ghana based multi-functional consultancy firm located in the city of Accra, Ghana) for journalists and information officers drawn from the eight MMDAs.
Graphic presentation on the status of implementation of the project in GKMA done by Ing Kwadwo Gyasi (Sanitation Engineering Specialist) at the training indicates that 23 were constructed in November 2021 and 237 for December 2021.
For year 2022, 391 were put up in January, 295-February and 205 in March.
As part of the workshop, training facilitators took participants through a field demonstration on some of the built facilities at Adiembra.
Opportunity was offered for them to interact with beneficiaries and have a hearing of their impression vis-à-vis the introduction and utilization of the toilet facility.
Though access to water to flash down the excreta after defecation is currently a big challenge for some users in the area, a resident named Rahmatu Seidu said the facility has relieved her from the dilemma of waking up in the middle of the night and early hours of the morning to visit a public lavatory situated a distance far away from her house.
Elizabeth Akomea (resident) also reiterated the same challenge. She however applauded the ministry for extending the project to GKMA.
At the training, facilitators equipped participants with knowledge on the concept of the GAMA project, estimated number of target beneficiaries, role of the ministry, legal instruments, what SDG goal 6 entails.
They were also schooled on City Marketing and Sanitation, key ingredients for city marketing among others.
Addressing the media in an interview, Chief Executive Officer of Niewtree Ghana Limited; a key facilitator for the workshop Dr. Benard Abeiku Arthur said though government’s responsibility is to provide a befitting living condition for its citizenry, issues related to sanitation can’t be shouldered all alone by government.
Poor sanitary situation, lack of access to water and toilet facility faced by the country has therefore necessitated the introduction of the project.
He therefor called on all to embrace the initiative.
ABOUT GAMA PROJECT
The development objective of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) Sanitation and Water Project for Ghana is to increase access to improved sanitation and improved water supply in the GAMA, with emphasis on low income communities and to strengthen management of environmental sanitation in the GAMA.
The project has four components.
The first component is provision of environmental sanitation and water supply services to priority low income areas of the GAMA.
The objective of this component is to increase the access to environmental sanitation and water supply services in low income areas of the GAMA with a strong focus on liquid sanitation.
This component also includes the development and implementation of a hygiene and sanitation behavior change campaign targeted at low-income households, and a major learning and dissemination effort aimed at informing a large-scale institutionalized approach to upgrading sanitation in low-income communities.
The second component is improvement and expansion of the water distribution network in the GAMA.
The objective of this component is to improve and expand the water distribution network in order to provide piped water to the targeted people living in low income communities in the GAMA.
This component will also support the acquisition and installation of water meters and other equipment, as well as the provision of services, aimed at improving water demand management and reducing nonrevenue water.
The third component is planning, improvement and expansion of GAMA-wide environmental sanitation services.
The objective of this component is to develop integrated GAMA-wide plans for liquid and solid waste management and drainage, and to finance critical elements to improve collection, treatment and disposal of wastewater and septic sludge.
Under this component the project will work closely with the International Finance Corporation
Development Objective
The objective of the project is to increase access to improved sanitation and improved water supply in the Greater Accra Metropolita n Area (GAMA) and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) with emphasis on low income communities and to strengthen management of e nvironmental sanitation in the GAMA and the GKMA.
ABOUT NIEWTREE
NiewTree Ghana Limited is a Ghanaian based multi-functional consultancy firm located in the City of Accra, Ghana.
Their services are classified into three main categories namely:
Governance and Business Advisory Services
Training and Development
Technical Consultancies
The needs and aspirations of their clients are at the heart of our service delivery excellence.
They therefore work together with our clients, listening to their needs, offering them the right solutions and making it easy for them to do business with them.
They do so with the highest standards of ethical and professional behavior.
Their team is composed of specialised and skilled professionals who have experience in both domestic and international development spheres.
Their staff have adequate knowledge in their chosen fields of endeavours and would at all times, go an extra mile to satisfy our clients.
Vision
They aspire to become a centre of choice and reference, both home and abroad for the provision of cutting-edge development consultancy and capacity building/training services.
Mission
They exist to build a culture of highly motivated staff using leading techniques and technologies to promote good governance, urban development and business innovation.
Source; www.leakynews.net
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