Implement policies on solid waste management – WUZDA Ghana

WUZDA Ghana, a Non-governmental organisation (NGO) working in the area of water, sanitation and hygiene, has called on government and other stakeholders to implement and enforce policies on the country’s solid waste management systems.

It made the call, in Tamale, at a news conference to mark this year’s World Toilet Day celebration, which was on the theme; “Sustainable Sanitation and Climate Change”.

Mr Shaibu Awudu, Media and Communications Officer at WUZDA Ghana, who read the news statement, said: “Over the years, governments and other stakeholders have made efforts to help deal with the problem of poor sanitation, but the problem has always been, especially for duty-bearers, a lack of political will and less commitment to policy enactment and implementation."

World Toilet Day is marked on November 19, every year to inspire actions to tackle the global sanitation crisis.

Mr Awudu said “We believe the enactment of policies and strategies are not enough, until we make extra efforts to implement them and make them work to the benefit of the people for whom the policies were made."

He expressed worry about how policies were not strictly implemented to solve sanitation problems in the country, saying “For WUZDA Ghana, we are worried about the spirit with which we implement and enforce our policies and strategies, which in many cases, appear convincing to solving our problems as a nation.”

Mr Awudu, therefore, called on the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources to break down the tasks of each of the implementing agencies to specifics, and indicate timeliness on which each of them would be achieved.

He said, "This will enable sector players to monitor on behalf of the citizenry, as well as ask the necessary questions and effectively engage the Ministry on the issues of implementation of the Solid Waste Management Strategy."

He called on the members of the public “To change their attitudes with regard to disposing of solid waste, as a properly managed solid ‘material in transition’ is wealth and not waste."