AT LEAST 15,000 households in low-income urban communities in the Greater Accra Region have been connected with regular water supply through the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area Sanitation and Water Project (GAMA-SWP), an official has disclosed.
The Sanitation Engineer of the GAMA project, Engineer Gabriel Engman disclosed this on Tuesday during the ongoing MOLE XXXIV WASH Conference in Jirapa in the Upper West Region.
Mr Engman said the GAMA project enabled the expansion of water distribution infrastructure to these low-income communities to create access to safe water for all residents at subsidised costs.
He said the boost in the provision of safe water to these vulnerable communities was in line with the objectives of the GAMA project, which include the provision of safe water, access to improved Sanitation in the form of household and institutional toilets, building capacity and also improving sanitation services in beneficiary communities.
Mr Engman added that so far, the GAMA and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA)- SWP have so far 59, 000 household toilets under and constructing about 598 for schools and health care facilities in Accra and Kumasi Metropolitan areas.
Based on the experience from the field, Engman said the GAMA/GKMA project has developed a manual to help artisans, and anyone interested in constructing biodigester toilets.
He said this is the project’s contribution to building the capacity of artisans and technicians who would be able to construct the biodigester toilets according to standard, and also efficiently maintain the facilities.
“Building Inclusive and Resilient Water, Sanitation and Hygiene System to Reach the Unserved,” is the theme for this year’s MOLE Conference, with GAMA/GKMA, World Vision Ghana, WaterAid Ghana, SAHA Ghana, UNICEF, ESPA, Zoomlion and other stakeholder institutions as the sponsors.
As part of its support to the media, the GAMA/GKMA project supported some members of the Ghana WASH Journalists Network (GWJN and the Media Coalition Against Open Defaecation (M-CODe) to attend the conference.