Residents of Ga West educated on GAMA project

Amasaman, April 22, GNA - The people of Ga West Municipality have been educated on the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area-Sanitation Water Project (GAMA-SWP), to own a household toilet facility at half-price.

The project is being promoted to improve environmental sanitation and water supply at low income communities in the 11 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies of the region

The project, which would help prevent cholera and its related diseases is being sponsored by the World Bank.

Mr Samuel N Lawer, the Municipal Planning Officer and the Coordinator of the Ga West GAMA project led in the education to communities like Amasaman, Samsam, Korleman, Pokuase, Adjin Kotoku and Afiaman.

He also toured more than 20 schools in the communities and held durbars with chiefs and the people.

At a durbar at Amasaman, Mr Lawer advised school children to send the 'toilet at half-price' message to their parents and guardians to enable them own the facility to avoid open defecation and to enhance good sanitation.

Mr Lawer in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said according to the bye-laws of the Assembly, every household should have a toilet and that house owners who failed to provide such facilities would be prosecuted.

He reminded the people that the Circuit Court of the Municipality had set aside every Friday to prosecute sanitation offenders, which included; failure to provide household toilet.

Mr Lawer indicated that since the inception of the GAMA project over 120 household toilets had been constructed for interested persons who paid 50 per cent of the cost, while the other half was catered for by the project.

He said there were other options for landlords, who could not afford the half payment of the cost of the toilet.

The options he said included; loans from selected micro finance institutions such as the HFC Bank for repayment in installment.

The Planning Officer said another opportunity for the landlords was to make installment payment towards the half-price of the project.

Mr Lawer urged resident associations in the municipality to form groups to contribute in a Susu scheme towards the construction of the household toilets for members.

GNA