Accra-Ghana, Oct. 09, GNA – The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources in collaboration with the World Bank Supervisory Team will embark on a monitoring visit to the ongoing Greater Accra Metropolitan Are (GAMA) – Sanitation and Water Project from today, October 9 to October 13, 2023.
The USD 125 Million Project is a sequel to the parent GAMA Sanitation and Water Project, which was successfully implemented in Accra and completed in December 2020, exceeding most of the project targets.
The four-year project, which was launched in November 2921, has been implemented for 22 months and the objective of the monitoring/mission is to review the status of implementation of all components of the project to ensure all activities are on track to be completed by the project closing date of December 2024.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Ministry and said the components of the project include the provision of environmental sanitation services to priority low-income areas of the GAMA and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) USD 40.95 million.
This helped in increasing access to sanitation services in priority low-income areas; supporting the provision of 42,000 household toilets and 150 school/healthcare sanitation facilities.
The statement said the second component comprised expansion of the water distribution network in the GAMA and GKMA, and improvement in operational efficiency USD 54.75 Million.
It supported the expansion of water distribution network in the Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Areas to provide piped water to an estimated 150,000 people living in low-income urban communities.
“About 120 km of pipeline will be laid and 5,000 new households will be connected to Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) water system,” it stated.
The third component involved planning, improvement, and expansion of environmental sanitation services USD 16 Million.
It supported the improvement of sanitation services, including wastewater and septic sludge management investments, planning of liquid waste management and drainage as well as investment in biodigester sludge processing plants, the statement said.
It stated that the fourth component catered for project management and institutional strengthening USD 13.3 Million.
The statement said it supported in institutional strengthening, providing technical assistance to metropolitan, municipal, and national institutions, promoting Behaviour Change Communication Campaigns to GKMA metropolitan, Municipal Assemblies and Schools.
It further supported in consultations and workshops, project management, monitoring and evaluation as well as promoting private sector initiatives in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
The statement said the total cost of the four-year project, which became effective in 2021 with full funding and technical assistance from the World Bank, was US$125 million.
It sated the status of project implementation as household toilets completed – 26,720, institutional (schools and healthcare) toilets completed – 103, household water connections – 5,000 direct household connections, and rehabilitation of Asafo Sewerage Plant – ongoing.
The rest were; treatment of biodigester sludge – processes for construction of plant on-going, review of National Environmental Sanitation Policy – ongoing, development of Ghana WASH Sector Development Plan – completed and launched, and hygiene promotion, capacity building and training activities – ongoing.
The statement announced that the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Dr. Freda Akosua Prempeh, with support from the World Bank Team, will commission 38 completed institutional sanitation facilities in eight municipalities in the GKMA as part of the monitoring.
