The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) in 2022, built over 600 household toilet facilities under the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area Sanitation and Water Project (GKMA-SWP).
The Assembly envisages to construct an additional 1,000 household toilets in 2023.
Mr Michael Agyemang, Coordinator for GKMA-SWP at KMA, told the Ghana News Agency that, in all, the Assembly was supposed to construct not less than 3,000 household toilets by the end of 2024.
“Next year, we are hoping to do additional 1,000, so by the time the project ends in 2024, we would have achieved our target”, he noted.
He indicated that, the KMA would campaign rigorously to improve demands for toilets, prosecute households without toilets and add up more contractors to improve project outcomes.
Mr Agyemang said the only challenge was with delays by the contractors (sub-project implementers) in constructing household toilets for clients after payments which mostly posed a disincentive for the homes.
He said due to the deferments, the Mayor of KMA, Mr Samuel Pyne had met with contractors to find out how best the Assembly could address concerns to expedite construction processes for the people.
According to the Coordinator, the Assembly was still registering households for construction of toilets, adding that, it had registered more than 800 households who had made payments.
Mr Agyemang said the target now was to compile all houses without toilets facilities, educate the owners and prosecute those who would fail to take advantage of the opportunity to register and have toilets in their homes.
He appealed to the people within Kumasi to take advantage of this huge support by the government of Ghana and the World Bank to be able to access toilet facilities before the project elapses.
“It is a huge contribution the government of Ghana and the World Bank want to make in the lives of the people of Kumasi, you should be able to welcome the idea and patronize the household to toilets.
The cost for construction of a full toilet is over GH₵6,000.00 currently and the government is just asking you to pay only GH₵1,200 so take advantage”, he appealed.
The GKM-SWP for Ghana is a World Bank grant to support the government of Ghana’s effort to increase access to improved sanitation and water supply in the GKMA, with emphasis on low income communities.
The project beneficiary metropolitan and municipal assemblies are the KMA, Asokwa, Asokore-Mampong, Kwadaso, Ejisu, Oforikrom, Old Tafo and Suame.