By Florence Afriyie Mensah
Ada, (G/A) Dec.12, GNA – Mr. Noah Tumfo, Chief Director, Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) has charged journalists to strive to bring out all lapses and ills in Ghana’s water management and sanitation delivery system.
This, he believed could help solve the numerous challenges in the sector and improve access to quality water supply and sanitation services to the people.
He explained that, although the Ministry was committed to addressing the sanitation and water needs of the citizenry, there was the need for the media to continue to highlight critical issues in the sector to help push up efforts by all stakeholders.
Mr Tumfo was addressing the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) Sanitation and Water Project (SWP) and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA-SWP) Media Partners Training Workshop at Ada, in the Greater Accra Region.
The workshop was organised by the MWSR to review previous media trainings and engage and equip participants with skills in sanitation advocacy to influence social behaviour and attitude towards enhancing improved environmental sanitation.
Mr Tumfo pointed out that, with less than eight years to hit the deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Six – clean water and sanitation for all, Ghana needed a collective effort from all sector actors and stakeholders, especially journalists, to achieve nationwide targets.
“This is the time to bring out all that you find, and we are prepared to listen and together chart a path that will make GAMA Sanitation and Water Project in Ghana take its rightful course.”
Mr George Asiedu, GAMA/GKMA SWP, Coordinator, recommended that the Project which was currently on-going in Accra and Kumasi must be scaled up nationwide to be able to achieve SDG Six by 2030.
Ghana as it stands now, needs to provide about 944,000 household toilet facilities within eight years to be able to relieve itself from the canker of open defecation.
Mr Asiedu explained that the GAMA SWP is targeted at providing 120,000 within the eight years period.
However, the project covers only GAMA and GKMA and per deductions, providing 120,000 toilet facilities will leave an outstanding 824,000, which called for a scale up to attain wider household toilet coverage.
GNA