The Chairperson of the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) says plans instituted to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa are far from being achieved.
Speaking on Midday News on Joy FM, Mr Atta Arhin said that the country is yet to implement some of the most fundamental elements of the plan which are expected to drive the sector towards realising its mandate.
“One of them is to strengthen the institutional arrangements. As it is now, the ministry is hanging because it does not have any operational structure which will take the policies and implement them at the MMDA level.
“That is why we are calling for the establishment of the National Sanitation Authority, otherwise the Ministry itself will develop the policy and seek to be implementing them themselves. That is not the way to go,” he told Emefa Apawu, host of the show.
Mr Arhin’s comment comes after the Minister-Designate for Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Abena Dapaah stated during her vetting today, that the government’s promise to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa is still on course.
Speaking before Parliament’s Appointment Committee, she stated that the government has rolled out a series of interventions including the provision of toilet facilities to 33,000 households amongst others to achieve its target.
Mr Arhin said that although the government did put some measures in place those are limited in their reach, adding that a lot more needs to be done to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa.
“If you look at the public education, the bin distribution and all that private sector involvement, that is where I think the Ministry has done well…but when it comes to the fight against sanitation if you aks me we are nowhere near realising our objectives.”
The ministry, he said, has failed to engage some sector players to help them ensure Accra truly becomes the cleanest city.
Mr Arhin said that “if she has to succeed in this Ministry we have sector players who have a lot of capacity and yet we have not been effectively engaged to deliver on the mandate of the ministry and I think that is where we need to check.”