The Coordinator of the GAMA/GKMA Water and Sanitation Project has proposed that the project be replicated in other parts of the country in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 by 2030.

The proposal for upscaling comes on the heels of significant progress in the implementation of the pro-poor project in the Greater Accra Region and Greater Kumasi.

According to Ing. George Asiedu, the Ghanaian government must provide about 944,000 household toilet facilities within the next eight years in order to address the country's open defecation problem.

Ing Asiedu was speaking to journalists at the GAMA/ GKMA Media Partners Meeting/ Engagement and Training Workshop at the Aqua Safari resort in Ada in the Greater Accra Region on Monday.

He says if the country is able to do that within the next eight years, "we can be sure of achieving the SDG 6."

The project aims to provide 15,000 toilet facilities per year and 120,000 over an eight-year period. However, it only covers the Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Assemblies, so providing 120,000 toilet facilities leaves an outstanding figure of 824,000 to meet the open defecation-free country status.

“GAMA is to attain SDG 6…We must scale up the GAMA approach nationwide and if we don’t do that, it will be a difficult task to achieve”, Ing Asiedu said.

The GAMA project's efforts to provide decent toilet facilities for schools are being thwarted by the same poor maintenance culture that plagues most public facilities.

Some completed school toilets are in poor condition as a result of poor maintenance culture and a lack of concern to keep the facilities functioning properly.

However, GAMA says that many proactive measures have been implemented to manage toilet facilities. Schools in the GAMA/GKMA region have been encouraged to adopt environmentally friendly facility management practices.

Bio-digester Innovation

The GAMA Bio-digester Toilet System, an on-site faecal matter treatment system, replaces the septic tank by collecting and treating faecal matter directly from the water closets.

Bio-digester technology has become useful because it is small, much more affordable, and can be built in awkward places.

GAMA's target outputs are 12, 000 household toilet facilities that will benefit over 72, 000 people by December 2024, while GKMA's target outputs are 30000 household toilet facilities that will benefit over 180, 000 people during the same period.

So far, 11,121 household toilets have been provided under Additional Financing, representing 93% of the 12,000 GAMA target with an estimated beneficiary population of 88,968. GAMA has provided 39, 662 household toilets to date, with an estimated beneficiary population of 317, 296.

According to the status of implementation in GKMA, 5,303 household toilets have been provided under Additional Financing to date, representing 17.68% of the GKMA target of 30, 000 with 37,121 estimated beneficiaries.