20,000 boreholes in five years?
Story: Jasmine Arku
THE Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) has raised doubts as to whether government’s 2011 budget statement to construct 20,000 boreholes over a five-year period would come to fruition.
On the average, 4000 boreholes are expected to be constructed annually, however, according to the group, the 2011 budget statement did not provide corresponding financial resources which would facilitate the drilling process and construction of the boreholes.
Although government in September 2010 signed on to the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Compact to do more to improve sanitation and sustain gains in water delivery , it was revealed by CONIWAS that the budget did not reflect the funding commitments to spend US$ 200 million annually as affirmed in the Compact.
At a press conference themed “Financing WASH sector through the Ghana SWA Compact; Where are we”, CONIWAS demanded of government to indicate how it was going to fund the projects since the current budget figures which met 44.9 per cent of the commitment with respect to water and sanitation excluded the allocation to the construction of the boreholes.
The Executive Secretary of CONIWAS, Mr Benjamin Arthur noted that, the water and sanitation sectors constituted 3.1 per cent of the total budget for 2011, adding that there had been an over reliance of the water sector on financing from development partners .
He noted that, the allocation from donors in the 2011 budget to the sector was GH¢ 529, 903, 428, which was about 94 per cent contribution whilst government contributed 6 per cent of the total allocation.
He, therefore, called on government to take responsibility for the development of the WASH sector rather than the continued dependence on donors, adding that, “it is not enough to recognise sanitation and water as a priority without matching resources that have been promised”.
The Ghana SWA Compact is as a result of a high level meeting held in April 2010 in Washington DC and attended by the Ministers of Finance and Economic Planning, Water Resources Works and Housing and the Local Government and Rural Development to join the Sanitation and Water for ALL: A Global Framework for Action (SWA Initiative).
The initiative provided the opportunity for accelerated progress toward the achievement of the water and sanitation Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
This was followed in September 2010 by the launching of the Ghana SWA Compact to affirm government’s commitment to do more to improve sanitation and sustain gains in water delivery.
THE Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS) has raised doubts as to whether government’s 2011 budget statement to construct 20,000 boreholes over a five-year period would come to fruition.
On the average, 4000 boreholes are expected to be constructed annually, however, according to the group, the 2011 budget statement did not provide corresponding financial resources which would facilitate the drilling process and construction of the boreholes.
Although government in September 2010 signed on to the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Compact to do more to improve sanitation and sustain gains in water delivery , it was revealed by CONIWAS that the budget did not reflect the funding commitments to spend US$ 200 million annually as affirmed in the Compact.
At a press conference themed “Financing WASH sector through the Ghana SWA Compact; Where are we”, CONIWAS demanded of government to indicate how it was going to fund the projects since the current budget figures which met 44.9 per cent of the commitment with respect to water and sanitation excluded the allocation to the construction of the boreholes.
The Executive Secretary of CONIWAS, Mr Benjamin Arthur noted that, the water and sanitation sectors constituted 3.1 per cent of the total budget for 2011, adding that there had been an over reliance of the water sector on financing from development partners .
He noted that, the allocation from donors in the 2011 budget to the sector was GH¢ 529, 903, 428, which was about 94 per cent contribution whilst government contributed 6 per cent of the total allocation.
He, therefore, called on government to take responsibility for the development of the WASH sector rather than the continued dependence on donors, adding that, “it is not enough to recognise sanitation and water as a priority without matching resources that have been promised”.
The Ghana SWA Compact is as a result of a high level meeting held in April 2010 in Washington DC and attended by the Ministers of Finance and Economic Planning, Water Resources Works and Housing and the Local Government and Rural Development to join the Sanitation and Water for ALL: A Global Framework for Action (SWA Initiative).
The initiative provided the opportunity for accelerated progress toward the achievement of the water and sanitation Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
This was followed in September 2010 by the launching of the Ghana SWA Compact to affirm government’s commitment to do more to improve sanitation and sustain gains in water delivery.
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