The Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA) and the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) has called on government to, as a matter of national importance, set up the National Sanitation Authority (NSA) to enhance waste management in the country.
CONIWAS and ESPA say the establishment of the proposed NSA would help coordinate and regulate activities in the sanitation sector, to propel the synergy that was required to make the desired impact in the sector.
Addressing the media in Accra on Tuesday, the group argued that the lack of proper coordination among state institutions in finding solutions to sanitation related issues over the years has been a source of grave concern for service providers.
The Vice President of CONIWAS, Mr. Arthur Arhin, said due to the technical nature of engineering required in the sanitation sector, there was an urgent need for a specialised national institution to coordinate and manage specific activities for better impact.
Mr. Arthur Arhin added that poor sanitation results in about 19,000 mortality cases in the country annually, adding that urgent steps must be taken to halt the trend.
He said the private sector players in the waste and sanitation industry continue to face many daunting challenges with operations saddled with many setbacks while the government continues to show low commitment in the sector.
He mentioned policy documents including the Environmental Sanitation Policy (2010), Environmental and Hazardous waste Bill (2016), Ghana Landfill Guidelines, Municipal Solid Waste Management Guidelines (Draft), National Environmental Sanitation Strategy and Action Plan (NESSAP), District Environmental Sanitation Strategy and Action Plan (DESSAP), Strategic Environmental Sanitation Investment Plan (SESIP) and a host of others as policies that have been formulated to provide some level of support for the sector.
Mr. Arthur Arhin said the biggest venture by government so far is the President's promise to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa by the end of his first term in 2020 which he expressed fears will not come to pass with the kind of posture government actors have towards the menace.
He stated that the private sector manages over 80% of waste generated in the country and provides over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs in the waste management value chain.
He said it is the private sector that leads in the provision of waste and sanitation infrastructure following the introduction of the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant(ACARP), the Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant(IRECOP), the Kumasi Compost and Recycling Plant(KCARP), Universal Plastic Products and Recycling Limited (UPPR) and the Fortifier Plants among others such as Sewerage Systems Ghana Limited which has solved the over hundred years problem of direct disludgement of feacal matter into the Atlantic Ocean at Korle-Gonor.
In enumerating their challenges, Mr. Arthur Arhin said there is consistently lack of serious and no deliberate Private Public Partnerships (PPP) policies in the area of waste management, a situation he described as “very worrying”.
He was bitter that whilst the landfills such as Kpone and Oti are at the verge of collapse government owes private landfill managers up to the tune of 42 million Ghana cedis.
He said low tariffs and lack of government support in the area of tax exemptions have attributed to the inability of the private sector to effectively collect and treat waste.
He, therefore, called on the Finance Ministry to pay monies owed private waste managers to enable them discharge their duties efficiently.
On her part, Executive Secretary Of ESPA, Ms Ama Ofori Antwi in answering questions from the media said government should deliberately support the private sector to expand infrastructure to augment the few existing ones.
She said government should also support existing private waste treatment facilities with financial incentives such as off-taker agreements to operate effectively for the benefit of the nation Ghana.
Ms Ofori Antwi appealed to the government to revisit the fee fixing arrangement to ensure realistic pricing for waste managers to be able to operate without any hindrance.
She was of the viewed that government should take the bold decision and act to establish the National Sanitation Authority to support in streamlining policies and policy directions for a better tomorrow in the water and sanitation sector.
The President should declare a presidential special initiative to target the expansion of toilet facilities in every home across the country she said.
Executive Secretary of ESPA, Ms Ama Ofori Antwi