Akosombo, June 12, GNA - Participants attending a retreat aimed at resolving the perennial problem of environmental sanitation in Ghana have stressed the need for a strong political will, focus and commitment from the government and other stakeholders so as to reposition environmental issues on the national development agenda.

They have also recommended the setting-up of a Joint Collaborative Review of Environmental Health and Sanitation Sector in Ghana that would draw membership from the institutions and other stakeholders to review environmental issues, beginning September 2007. These were among decisions taken at a three-day retreat hosted by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment at Akosombo.

The retreat was part of moves by the ministry on how it could serve as the fulcrum towards sustainable reduction of poverty through improved water supply, sanitation and hygiene behaviour in Ghana. It was also meant to enable the more than 60 participants deliberate on the structure and functions of the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate that has been created under the ministry and also to propose a framework of strategic work of the directorate. Held under the theme "Creating a visible home for environmental sanitation", the retreat followed efforts by the government to give sanitation issues a more visible representation.

Among the participating institutions were the ministries of Health, Trade, Road and Transportation, Water Resources Works and Housing, Justice and Attorney General, Education Science and Sports, the Office of the Head of Civil Service, the Ghana Health Service and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Others included the Millennium Development Authority, the Town and Country Department (TCPD), Non-Governmental Organizations, the private sector and the donor community.

Mr Kofi Poku-Adusei, a Deputy Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, said the upgrading of the Environmental Health and Sanitation Division (EHSD) of the ministry to a directorate was in line with the government's thinking on the sector.

He assured the participants that the Ministry would take immediate action on the recommendation that fell within its mandate and confer with the other stakeholders on how they could resolve other problems together so as to quickly bring on-board a National Environmental Sanitation Strategy and Action Plan. Mr Poku-Adusei affirmed the readiness and commitment of the ministry to make environmental issues a centrepiece of the national development agenda and called for public support for it to succeed in its mission.

Among other recommendations adopted was the need for the MLGRDE to urgently act through the Regional Co-ordinating Councils to implement primary modes of refuse collection with a view to educating households on the need to segregate household litter for possible recycling and recovery.

It also requested the EPA and the TCPD to support the MLGRDE with expert advice in developing a national programme on potential disposal sites for Metropolitan, Municipal and District assemblies. The retreat participants also recommended to the government the need to increase its spending on environmental sanitation as well as consider the development of specific environmental health and sanitation frameworks for urban, peri-urban and emerging towns and cities.