Discussants at a breakfast meeting jointly organized by Zoomlion, UNICEF, Graphic Communications Group and Fidelity Bank, have called for the review of budgetary allocation to MMDAs to address existing sanitation challenges.

The discussants unanimously observed that the lack of financial resources, equipment and human resources have stalled Ghana’s progress in addressing sanitation challenges over the years.

Consequently, they stressed the need for government, donor agencies and financial institutions to show strong commitment by resourcing environmental service providers to enhance delivery.

This, the discussants believe, would help arrest the country’s dwindling fortunes in the sector.

Speakers include the Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) at UNICEF and Leader of the development partners (DPs), Mr David Duncan, Executive Chairman of Zoomlion and President of the ESPA, Mr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, the Managing Director of the Fidelity Bank, Mr Edward Effah and the Managing Director of the GCGL, Mr Kenneth Ashigbey.

The meeting was on the theme: “Making Aid Effective in Ghana’s Sanitation Sector, The Role Of The Private Sector In Addressing Ghana’s Sanitation Challenges”.

On his part, Dr Siaw Agyepong lamented that successive governments have placed much emphasis on the provision of potable water to the detriment of other social amenities such as the communal toilets.

He said: “National spending on sanitation has over the years been only a fraction of spending on water supply,” adding that the behavioral change impact of environmental sanitation programmes has therefore generally been limited.

Dr Siaw Agyepong further mentioned lack of dedicated programmes, inadequate waste disposal facilities, lack of personnel and laxity in the enforcement of sanitary regulations as some of the bottlenecks hindering the progress of the sector.

David Duncan, Chief Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Officer at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said open defecation does not only cost the country $79million a year but also poses the greatest danger to human health and can have fatal consequences, particularly for the most vulnerable, including young children.

He disclosed that at least five million Ghanaians do not have access to any toilet facility with 20 million not having access to basic improved sanitation.
“Ghana has been performing abysmally with sanitation coverage of only 15 percent and that makes the practice of open defecation a key sanitation challenge because people do not have access to key basic facilities,” Mr Duncan told journalists on the sidelines of the meeting.

Mr Ashigbey, on his part, urged media owners in the country to commit more resources to develop the capacity of reporters to be well abreast of sanitation issues.

“…But in doing so consumers of our work (referring to the public) must show interest in sanitation issues rather than concentrating so much on politics.

“When the public show interest, media houses would have no option than to bring sanitation issues to the limelight,” he stressed.

Additionally, Mr Effah of the Fidelity Bank called for partnership among the government, the private sector and the DPs.

“Together, whatever the challenges are, whatever the opportunities are, we can overcome them. Without this partnership, there is no harmonisation,” he stated.

Against that backdrop, he asked non-governmental organisations involved in sanitation to rather shift to private sector businesses, as they were more sustainable to operate and could easily access funds from the banks to operate as professional entities.