The Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Ms. Cecilia Dapaah, says Ghana has made strides towards attaining Sustainable Development Goal six, on water and Sanitation.
At a briefing in Accra the sector Minister said the Government remains committed to meeting the Universal water coverage by 2030, the target deadline.
The Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources focused on four key areas namely water resources management status and programmes, urban water management interventions, Rural water management interventions and sanitation interventions.
The sector Minister said Ghana’s current water resources are not in a healthy state, due mainly, to human activities such as illegal mining and water pollution.
At the end of 2016, sixty-five percent of the sixteen major river basins in the country were of poor water quality.
To address the situation, a buffer zone restoration scheme has been initiated in selected communities within the black and white Volta, Tano, Offin and Densu basins to protect the river basins.
On Urban water management interventions, the sector Minister said a number of projects are being undertaken by the Government to address acute water shortages in urban areas. Eight of such interventions have started and are at various stages.
They include the Upper East Water Supply Project, Keta water supply project, Sekondi-Takoradi Water Supply Project and Wenchi Water supply project.
On Rural Water Management, the Minister said twenty-three small Towns Pipe Water Systems have been constructed within eleven regions of the country.
Also over 3,000 people in the Upper West Region now have access to potable water following the construction of 250 boreholes.
The Minister said installation of smart meters and taps are ongoing in some selected regions to reduce operational costs.
On interventions being implemented in the sanitation sector Ms. Cecilia Dapaah said over two hundred thousand people in low-income communities in Accra now have access to improved toilet facilities.
The intervention, according to the Minister has significantly reduced open defecation in the region.
The Ministry under the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Project is constructing an Engineered Sanitary landfill and Materials Recovery Facility in the Ga West Municipality.
Also a waste transfer station is being constructed at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.
A dumpsite at Abokobi is being capped. The Minister said under the GARID project a fence wall will be constructed along the Odaw drain to prevent the dumping of solid waste in the drain.
