MORE RURAL COMMUNITIES HAVE POTABLE WATER — Says Minister (BACK PAGE)

MORE than half of rural communities in the country at the end of last year had access to potable water, the Minister of State for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has announced.
Madam Dapaah said the 54.86 per cent of rural communities which now enjoyed potable water exceeded the government’s target of 54.73 per cent.
She said at the current rate, the country was on course to achieve the 75 per cent target set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) water supply target for the year 2015.
Madam Cecilia Dapaah was speaking at the 11th Government of Ghana/development partners annual review conference on the water and sanitation sector at Akosombo.
The three-day conference, with the theme: “Taking Ownership: A critical step for sustainable water resources management and water and sanitation service delivery”, was organised by the Water Directorate of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, with the support of the Danish Development Agency (DANIDA).
The conference, which was being attended by representatives of stakeholders in the water sector, was among others, to take stock of the past year’s and current status of the water and sanitation sector, as well as to take a decision on how Ghana can take ownership of the water sector.
According to the minister, there had also been improvement in the provision of potable water for urban centres, which currently stood at 60 per cent.
She added that with the completion of water supply systems in urban areas such as the Accra East-West Inter-connection, Cape Coast, Koforidua and Tamale, 65 per cent of the urban population would be covered by the end of next year.
The minister further mentioned Ghana’s collaboration with its development partners in the water sector in three districts, namely, Dangbe West and Dangbe East in Greater Accra as well as North Tongu in the Volta Region,and that the implementation would help in the design and management of future rural projects of such magnitude for the benefit of the communities.
She also stated that bye laws to govern the management of water systems at the community and small towns level had been approved and adopted by the district and municipal assemblies where such facilities existed for the assemblies to monitor their operations, which she said would strengthen their ownership.
To protect water bodies, she stated that a Buffer Zone Policy was being prepared by the Water Resources Commission to regulate activities near water bodies, and that basin boards established to manage river basins were already functioning.
The Deputy Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, Alhaji Yeremia Awudu, asked landlords to provide places of convenience in their homes.
He also stated that the ministry would institute an award scheme on sanitation for practising journalists next year.
For his part, the Ambassador of the Danish Embassy in Ghana, Mr Stig Barlyng, gave the assurance that development partners, especially Denmark, would continue to assist to improve the water and sanitation sector in the country.
In his welcoming address, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Affram Asiedu, said the region had benefited immensely from various water and sanitation programmes under the New Patriotic Party Administration, and expressed the government’s appreciation to development partners who supported the expansion work on the Koforidua Municipality Water System which is underway.