Mr. Alban Bagbin, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing has stated that Ghana would need between 200 dollars and 300 dollars million annually to fix her sanitation problems.
He said while Government was on the verge of achieving the Millennium Development Goal on water, it was becoming extremely difficult for
government to make similar strides in sanitation, due to lack of funding.
Mr. Bagbin was presenting the case of Ghana at the first high-level meeting on 'Sanitation For All Summit' in Washington DC, which took place from April 22-23.
The meeting, hosted by UNICEF with support from the World Bank, was attended by Ministers for water and sanitation, from 13 other developing countries.
The United Kingdom and the Netherlands governments initially launched the programme in September 2008, which now involves 17 other donors, multi-lateral agencies, civil society organizations and other development partners.
Mr. Bagbin said whereas 82 per cent of the Ghanaian population had access to improved drinking water supply, 20 per cent practised open
defecation, with a much higher percentage engaged in various other unsanitary acts.
The Minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Nadowli West, told the meeting that even though the challenge was daunting, government was up to the task.
He stressed that the government would sustain the gains made so far in water, while addressing the water needs of the poor in low-income communities and yet-to be served areas.
Mr. Bagin said the summit further enhanced Ghana's potential for achieving the MDG target for water and sanitation by the year 2015.
The Minister said his presentation on the water and sanitation situation in the country attracted applause from colleague Ministers who
were yet to adopt measures for those areas in their various countries indicating Ghana was a pioneer in those areas.
He gave the assurance that government would sustain its achievements in those areas and called on other stakeholders to support them to achieve their targeted goals in the coming years.