Accra (Greater Accra), 5th May ?99 ?

Key players and service providers in the water industry were on Tuesday urged to lead the sector towards universal access to water and sanitation facilities as large portions of the rural areas remain deprived of these services.

Mr I. K Adjei Mensah, Minister of Works and Housing, said this is important because many people in the rural areas still have limited access to water and even fewer have access to adequate sanitation facilities.

The Minister was opening the 10th Mole Conference on rural water and sanitation in Accra, which is being attended by stakeholders and actors drawn from government agencies, non-governmental organisations and international bodies.

The three-day conference, which is under the broad theme "Mole into the next millennium" is being organised by ProNet, a non-profit organisation in collaboration with WaterAid, an NGO, and the British Department For International Development.

The first Mole conference held in 1989 at the Mole Game Reserve in Damongo in the Northern Region gave birth to the Mole series which takes place annually to provide a forum for reviewing and refining policies, among other issues.

Mr Adjei-Mensah noted that delivery of sanitation facilities has been slow and education on hygiene as a component of water and sanitation delivery is more recent phenomenon.

He called for more work on the issue adding "adequate water and sanitation are the cornerstones of our health and thus the foundation for the prosperity and development of the nation."

Mr Peter Sackey, acting managing director of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, said the agency was created to spearhead the implementation of a national policy and strategy in line with the government's decentralisation policy.

Mr Sackey said some of the current programmes of the agency include to ensure adequate capacity building for both the private and public sectors to enhance the rate of implementation of the national strategy.

"The private sector lacks the requisite training, equipment and personnel and a lot has to be done in the sector."

Mr Sackey said community ownership and management of water and sanitation facilities are crucial for sustainability of investments but the agency has to study legal issues and other complexities involved with the issue of ownership of facilities.

He called on non-governmental organisations in the sector to furnish the agency with data on their activities, including progress of work, to ensure effective networking and co-ordination.

Mr Sackey announced that Ghana has been included in a global conference that involves a one world think-tank on water and sanitation on the web site saying this would help in accessing information to formulate practical policies in the sector.