Accra is clean – Sanitation Minister

The Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah has said that Accra is generally clean, even though the government has been unable to fulfill the promise of making Accra the cleanest city in Africa by 2020.

Cecilia Dapaah said this in response to a question asked on sanitation in Ghana.

She said the Akufo-Addo-government has put measures in place to make Accra clean.

“There will always be challenges as the population grows and people migrate. Yes, there are challenges and I extensively brought to the Floor some of these challenges when I briefed the House. For instance, the honourable member was speaking about last week’s rain, the plastics are under the Ministry of Science, Environment, and Technology and the dredging is also under the ambit of the Ministry of Works and Housing.”

“The Ministry for the Works and Housing went around the city and visited the Aslyum down area and I know he is also giving contracts for drain dredging and I believe the Minister is capable of finding the needed solution but generally, I can say Accra is clean,” she added.

When he was elected President, Nana Akufo-Addo vowed to make Accra the cleanest city by the end of his first tenure. However, this was later revised by the Sanitation Ministry to the end of his second term if he elected in the upcoming general elections.

The Minister said President Akufo-Addo had prioritized the sanitation sector in the country so they can achieve this vision.

“His Excellency the president is so serious with this call to all of us, to make Accra the cleanest and Ghana a clean country. He has put the Ministry of Sanitation and Natural Resource on the top priority list of government to be able to access the budget that we need.”

Poor sanitation costs Ghana $290m annually

Earlier at a Meet the Press Series, Cecilia Dapaah had said that Ghana loses about $290 million due to poor sanitation in the country every year.

She said the amount is equivalent to $12 per person per year which translates to 1.6% of the country’s GDP.