We must tackle drainage, solid waste and sanitation management together – GAMA

An integrated master plan to tackle issues of drainage, solid waste and sanitation management is key to bridging service delivery gaps.

Mr George Asiedu, the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Sanitation and Water Project (GAMA/SWP) Coordinator, said sanitation issues were related, hence the need for collaboration to resolve them.

“We realise that the problems are related, we have drainage problem causing flooding in the country and we have poor solid waste management, poor sanitation issues, with challenges to access to toilet and management of faecal matter,” he said.

“So, all these combined is a bigger challenge and whilst you focus on dealing with solid waste management, you realise either your drains are chocked… or you have the drains, yet they do not function because they have been used as receptacles for solid waste.”

He noted that the high incident of sanitation related sicknesses was because some people had connected their septic tanks into drains.

Mr Asiedu was sharing thoughts with the media on the topic: “Unresolved Challenges with Promoting Household Toilets in Low Income Communities in Ghana” at the on-going 33rd Annual MOLE Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Conference in Elmina.

It is on the theme: “Ghana’s Commitment To Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH): Connecting Systems to Bridge Service Delivery Gaps,” being organised by the Ghana Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the Water and Sanitation sector.

“If you take a particular location, you must look at all the components together, providing drainage alone is not enough because there can be a problem upstream and the collection of solid waste into the drains is possible, the drain will seize to function, yet a lot of money have been pumped into it,” Mr Asiedu said.

The GAMA SWP is World Bank grant of 150 million US dollars to support the Government’s effort to increase access to improved sanitation and water supply, with emphasis on low-income communities in the Area and to strengthen the management of the environment.

It has instituted an integrated plan to serve as a guide to industry players working towards improving water and sanitation.

The project has four components; provision of environmental sanitation and water supply services to priority low-income areas; improvement and expansion of the water distribution network, planning, improvement and expansion of GAMA-wide environmental sanitation services and institutional strengthening of municipal, metropolitan and national institutions.

It is intended to create a common space where policymakers, practitioners and researchers would gather to give account on the state of Ghana’s WASH Delivery systems through the review of available evidence.

It is also to review Ghana’s Commitment towards universal access to sustainable WASH services, approaches and models, and connecting the systems to bridge service delivery gaps.

Source: newsghana.com.gh