Accra city authorities urged to be committed to enforcing bye-laws

Reverend Nii Dodoo Amoo, a Consultant and Deputy Project Manager of WATERTECH and WAPCOS Ghana Limited, has called on the Accra city authorities to be more committed in enforcing their bye-laws to make the metropolis clean.

The WATERTECH and WAPCOS is a leading drainage firm on the Greater Accra Metropolitan Accra – Sanitation and Water Project (GAMA-SWP), which is to improve sanitation and water supply in communities in 11 selected Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Greater Accra Region.

Rev Nii Amoo made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra at the introduction of an Integrated Urban Environmental Sanitation Master Plan (IUESMP), by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR).

The IUESMP is aimed at improving sanitation services in low income urban communities and to strengthen management of environmental sanitation in GAMA-SWP areas.

The project is being sponsored by the World Bank and the MSWR. Rev Nii Amoo said building on water ways and dumping of solid waste into drains in the metropolis had been the cause of nuisance and health hazards currently confronting low communities in the MMDAs in Accra and urged the assemblies to strictly ensure the compliance of their regulatory codes and standards to bring sanity into the management of the city.

He said: “We believe that with the support of key stakeholders, our efforts will not be in vain but contribute to getting rid of filth in the communities.”

Mr George Asiedu, the GAMA-SWP Consultant and Coordinator said the overall objective of the project was to provide 19,000 toilet facilities to low income households in the communities at a low price of GHC1, 100, GHC600 and GHC500.

He said this would go a long to reduce the menace of open defecation within the metropolis.

Mr Asiedu said as part of the project, 260 schools in the selected areas would also benefit from the provision of toilets to enhance environmental hygiene and sanitation at the schools.

He said a national technical working group comprised of key stakeholders headed by Mr Anthony Mensah, the Director of the AMA Waste Management Department had been formed to supervise the provision of the facilities and urged the selected communities to take advantage of the opportunity to get improved household toilet at affordable cost.