Government will benefit from GAMA project – Ishmael Ashitey

The Greater Accra Regional Minister has entreated all citizens who lack toilet facilities to engage with their Municipal Chief Executives (MCEs) to take advantage of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) Sanitation and water project launched Thursday January 25, 2018.

According to Ishmael Ashitey, the project will significantly make strides in improving sanitation conditions in Ghana and government will adequately save money meant to deal with health related issues to that effect.

“Initially the beneficiaries were asked to pay 50%, they’ve reduced it to 25%. The remaining 75% will be taken over by GAMA so that you can get toilet in your house. You don’t go outside to the beach again to defecate and then you don’t go out forming lines for a public toilet and other things.”

“If we are able to do this, government itself is going to benefit because we will be spending less in providing medicine at the hospitals. Many people get sick because of the filth around them. We will be spending less, people will be healthy, and productivity will go up. So we as a government it will be beneficial and the individual is also going to benefit,” he said.

The Minister was speaking at a Stakeholder Sensitization Forum for the preparation of an integrated urban environment sanitation master plan for the GAMA project on Wednesday, January 31 at the Tomreik Hotel in East Legon.

In a brief statement, the Minister however bemoaned how little attention is given to sensitization of the environment.

He observed that, “Good sanitation practice is an important driver to the health, economic and social development of any nation. It is however sad to state that despite the progress we have chalked in the other areas of national development such as poverty reduction, education, water supply and health, little progress has been made on environmental sanitation.”

“At 60 years as nation and a Middle Income Country, we are unable to provide basic social services including descent household toilet facilities for our people. Less than twenty percent (20%) of the population have access to improved sanitation. Undoubtedly, this situation is unacceptable and we need to collectively take urgent and immediate action to address the issue,” he said.

On the back of this he also noted that there is a growing commitment from Government, Development Partners and key sector players towards reversing the continuous deterioration of the sanitation conditions.

“I am happy to inform you that a number of sanitation and water related projects and programmes are already being implemented particularly in the GAMA area on critical environmental sanitation components including Excreta Disposal, Sullage Disposal, Solid Waste Management and Storm Drainage.”

The GAMA Sanitation and water project is a $150 million initiative sponsored by the World Bank in collaboration with the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources to help lower income level communities, have access to affordable toilet and water facilities.

Beneficiary households would be expected to pay GHC1,100 for a complete facility which includes the structure, a toilet seat, a wash hand basin and a bio-digester.

For those with already existing structures the package would cost GHC600, and if one required just the bio-digester, it will cost the individual GHC500.