The stakeholder’s consultative workshop of the Sector Strategic Development Plan (SSDP) of the water sector has been held in Accra. The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashitey, in the introductory remark said the workshop would chart a way forward on issues regarding the water sector and how best the nation could prioritise and effectively finance the water sector to ensure increasing access as well as managing the resources effectively. He said the workshop is aimed at soliciting views and ideas from stakeholders to develop a sector strategic development plan for the water sector. He stated that the SSDP for the water sector when completed would serve as a single point of reference for all water sector programmes and projects. Mr. Ashietey said the plan would also articulate and activate the priorities assigned by the government in the implementation of its national water policy in the medium to long term. “This is our chance to plan for tomorrow because if we do not plan well into the future, we are certainly bound to fail in the short-run,” he added. He said with such a comprehensive plan and package at hand, it would be easier for government and donors as well as the private sector to prioritise and fund the water sector effectively. “It is my belief that when the plan is completed and implementation starts, improper disposal of liquid waste into water resources and flooding problems would be a thing of the past,” he said. He said as practitioners and experts, it is in the right direction to meet and make inputs into documents since it would go a long way to collectively and effectively mitigate the issues and problems facing the water sector. He, therefore, commended the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing for taking it upon itself to develop a strategy for the water sector. The project manager for the water directorate of the ministry, Nii Attah Arhin, said the principal objective of the consultative meeting was to solicit stakeholders’ inputs for the development of the SSDP for the water sector in Ghana. He said the purpose of the SSDP is to guide the water sector as a whole and other sector stakeholders in the planning development and management of the nation’s water resources. Source: The Ghanaian Times/Ghana