Enforce Laws To Tackle Sanitation — Sanitation Authority Told

Kweku Quansah of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) has emphasized that strictly enforcing the laws on sanitation will be the best way to address the numerous sanitation challenges hindering the development of our country.

He made this known during a media engagement with the National Sanitation Authority on October 30, 2019 at the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel, Accra.

“I think the issue of the poor attitude of the public is hindering against the nation as to get to a clean and healthy environment. What countries that have developed have done is to strictly enforce their laws without fear or favour and if people continue to flout the basic rules and regulations concerning sanitation, then the best solution and the most sustainable way of addressing it is to continue enforcing the laws.

“ And we want to appeal to all stakeholders to really make sure that they don’t litter, defecate in the open, put refuse at where they are not supposed to be and as a country, we will enjoy a healthy environment,” he noted.

Kweku Quansah added that implementation of the NSA will bring about a number of benefits such as holding some individuals accountable in delivering environmental sanitation services in Ghana. Thus, it is going to increase accountability, ensure that our cities are clean, have some level of technical capacity to support us clean the environment.

In a speech from the MSWR which was delivered by a representative of the Ministry, Quaranchie Adama – Tettey who is also a Behaviour Change and Communication Specialist partly indicated that, “The NSA will have in place a sustainable and continuous flow of funds that will ensure that services do not come to a halt. This can be achieved by setting up a fund with a percentage from the consolidated fund being provided for its operations.”

Ama Ofori Antwi, Executive Secretary of Environmental Services Providers Association (ESPA) stressed that they as private entities are looking forward to the implementation of the NSA so that it gives them institutional guidelines and standards in the discharge of their services in the country. The establishment of the NSA, she added will attract a number of investors in the industry and bring about competition as well.

Policy Lead of Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), Dr. Tanko Azzika posited that, “As WSUP, we want the NSA to come into fruition to help in coordination and harmonization of the sanitation sub-sector policies. It will also improve sanitation services delivery because we will have had a national level authority in charge of sanitation with some branches or departments at the regional and the district levels otherwise sanitation is hanging at the regional level and nothing is happening about it except the municipal and metropolitan authorities which are currently dealing with it.”

He continued, “You will realize that the NSA will come with a sanitation fund and that means that sanitation itself can have funds that sector practitioners can draw on to implement their activities. So that is why we think that the NSA is something that we can no more wait to have it in Ghana.”

Yaw Atta Arhin, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene(WASH) Technical Coordinator – World Vision, Ghana and Vice Chair – Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation ( CONIWAS) said “ Right from the stakeholder engagement, CONIWAS has been involved. We’ve made several inputs and even submitted some recommendations to the Ministry and we will continue to do that because we are interested in getting the NSA established. We are going to be actively involved and support the Ministry in a way to be able to ensure that it is established.”