Mrs. Agartha Quayson said serious attention needed to be given to these because of the relevance to the good health of everybody.  She was speaking at a capacity building workshop held in Kumasi for members of the Ghana WATSAN Journalists’ Network in the Ashanti Region.

The goal was to help them accurately and comprehensively report on WASH issues.

Mrs. Quayson indicated that potable water and good sanitation were vital to the good health of the population and that was why it was pertinent that this was made an urgent priority.  She added that all stakeholders should accept to play their expected roles well to support the government to provide standardized services to the people.

SNV together with Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited had launched a €4 million five-year project to get private sector involvement in WASH, offering them loans to improve the sector.The low interest loans with flexible payment terms is coming from the Netherlands Embassy and being disbursed through 18 financial institutions including Odotobri Rural Bank, Fidelity Bank, Price Capital and Pathway Micro-Finance.

Seven regions - Ashanti, Greater Accra, Eastern, Central, Western, Northern and Brong Ahafo are currently benefitting from the project. Mrs. Quayson said so far €1.5 million had been disbursed and involved the construction of household and public toilets, the provision of support for water vendors and incinerators for some hospitals and communities.