Privatisation of the water sector would begin in March 2003, Mr Ohene Okai, Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Works and Housing, said yesterday.
"The final document of the lease agreement on Private Sector Participation (PSP) in urban water supply that is designed to be performance driven and attractive to bidders is substantially complete," he said and added "it is expected that the operators (investors) would be in place in March 2003."
Mr Okai said this when he inaugurated a 14-member organising committee for the 12th congress of the Union of Africa Water Suppliers (UAWS) slated for February 2004 in Ghana.
Members of the committee include Mr Jonathan Nunoo, Acting Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) as Chairman, Mr S.O. Lamptey, Co-ordinator of the Congress, Mr Jeff Pinkney, Operations Manager of Ballast Nedam (a foreign consultancy firm) and Said Fakhry, Chairman of Interplast Ghana Limited.
Mr Okai said government is committed to ensuring that every Ghanaian has access to water and has over the years injected massive doses of public money to revamp the production and delivery of potable water.
He noted that apart from efforts to privatise the sector for an efficient supply of water, government is much concerned that constraints on access to water in terms of quality and quantity could become a major limiting factor in sustainable development.
"Government is, therefore, determined to take advantage of every opportunity to tackle problems by promoting local and national systems for managing the sustainable use of water resources based on an integrated approach.
"Such an approach should link development to the protection of the national environment, participation of all actors and interested parties, the involvement of both men and women and the recognition of social and economic value for water," Mr Okai stated. That is why government has created the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission and the Water Resources Commission to oversee the holistic management and sustainable use of both ground and surface water resources in the country, he said.
The Acting Chief Director said government would endorse the recommendations that UAWS must adopt practices to bring more efficiency that would allow the union to rapidly collect up-to-date information relating to the provision of water for potential users.