The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources would award private sector and non-state actors for their participation in the Sanitation Challenge for Ghana, expected to bring solutions to the country’s sanitation problems.

The private sector and non-state actors (PS-NSAs) would partner the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) in the Sanitation Challenge, which would serve as an inducement for the implementation of their liquid waste management strategies.

The award is aimed at stimulating investments, innovations and expertise from non-state actors to propel the 17 MMDAs participating in the Sanitation Challenge to achieve the interventions set out in their liquid waste management strategies.

It would be limited to PS-NSAs who have registered to participate and each of the 17 MMDAs are expected to be partnered by a PS-NSAs for the Challenge.

The Ministry, which is also in partnership with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), and collaborating with the Sanitation Challenge Team, would convene a Learning Practice for the PS-NSAs and some officials from the 17 MMDAs.

Mrs Theodora Adomako Adjei, the Head of Extension Services of the CWSA, said the Challenge was to enable the private sector to collaborate with the MMDAs to find innovative ways of managing liquid waste in the country.

She said the partnership would create an opportunity for the private sector to venture into other areas of sanitation such as managing solid waste, aside the liquid waste, which had been the focus in finding sustainable solutions to waste management.

Mrs Adjei said it would create an enabling environment to help the private sector to boost its works in relation to solving sanitation problems.

She said the awards, which would be held in June, 2019, would cost over 200,000 dollars, and was expected to bring sustainable solutions to the sanitation problems facing the country.

Mrs Vida Duti, the Country Director of International Water and Sanitation Centre, said the project was to motivate PS-NSAs to prioritize liquid waste management in their activities.

She said a panel of international judges would be constituted to verify the applications of the participants and select those with the best waste management strategies.

Mr Mawuena Dotse, the Managing Director of Maple Consult, who made a presentation on the purpose and objectives of the PS-NSAs, said the awards would enable active engagement with communities to ensure value for money.

He said it would bring about innovations, expertise and investment in the MMDAs as well as trigger the PS-NSAs to explore market opportunities for value added sanitation products.

Mr Dotse expressed worry on how the country was lagging behind in terms of sanitation and waste management, especially when Ghana was recorded as the seventh dirtiest country in the world.

Mr John Afari Idan, the Chief Executive Officer of Bio-Gas Technology, said it was an opportunity to invest and participate in the Challenge, as it would help provide a solution to waste management.

He said human waste should be used wisely as biogas and bi-charcoal, to generate money for developmental purposes.