World Bank To Withdraw Grant Support To Ghana

The World Bank will soon withdraw its grant support on water and sanitation to Ghana, Mr Charles Dzradosi, a Social Policy Specialist of UNICEF, has said.

This is because, for some years now, Ghana had not demonstrated any true political will to tackle sanitation problems in the country. Mr Dzradosi was speaking during the Brong-Ahafo Regional launch of the 2016 Ghana District Table (DLT) in Sunyani.

The DLT is a simple ranking tool showing national progress towards delivering development across the country’s 216 districts.

Mr Dzradosi said the World Bank did not understand why open defecation must still persist in the country despite its continuous assistance to eradicate the unhygienic practice. He said the World Bank was also not happy that many Ghanaians still lacked access to basic sanitary facilities, particularly household toilets.

Mr Dzradosi said a directive was required from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to push metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to tackle the issue of sanitation in a more proactive manner.

MMDAs must strictly enforced sanitation bye-laws and also ensure that enough public toilets are provided for the citizens, he said.