Parliament has approved a 45.7 million US Dollar loan agreement between Ghana and the International Development Association (IDA) for water and sanitation project.
Presenting the report of the Joint Committee of Finance and Works and Housing on the agreement in Parliament, the Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah said Ghana is facing sanitation challenges as only 15% of the population have access to improved sanitation facilities.
He added that as regards poor sanitation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reports for 2015 placed the country 2nd after Sudan in Africa for open defecation with five million Ghanaians not having access to toilets.
The Chairman also stated that the Sustainable and Rural Water project was therefore designed to improve access to water and sanitation services with a focus on sustainability.
He indicated that the initial project was funded by an IDA facility amounting to US$75 million and an expected five percent counterpart funding amounting to GH¢5.90 million from the beneficiary districts. This was to cover the cost of water supply systems. He added that the project started in December 2010 and was expected to come to an end in December 2017.
He said the targeted beneficiaries were 90 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) with the lowest water coverage and the highest incidence of water-borne diseases in six regions. They are the Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Central and Western regions.
He intimated that the financing agreement between Ghana and the International Development Association for an amount of 33,000,000 Special Drawing Rights the equivalent of US$45.7 million is an additional financing for the Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation project.
The repayment period for the loan is 20 years with a 5 year grace period.
