Deputy Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Patrick Boamah, has revealed that government has secured a grant of $42 million to provide water to about 150,000 homes and also build 20,000 household latrines.

The grant, he said, was provided by the World Bank, to ensure that water and toilets are available in Ghanaian homes.

He told Sanitation Ambassador Naa Astwei Oduro, who doubles as a journalist with Accra100.5FM in an interview on Thursday, 10 May that: “This demonstrates the government’s commitment towards ensuring a clean environment and water supply to homes in Ghana.”

“Through the Community Water and Sanitation, we have secured a $ 42 million grant from the World Bank. With that the government is providing water for 150,000 people. We are providing 250 boreholes under the Small Town Water Systems with this grant,” adding: “We are also rehabilitating eleven systems, we are also going to provide support for the construction of 20,000 household latrines. All these are going to take place in six regions.”

Mr Boamah also noted that “an amount of $7.9 million has been secured to build 25 institutional latrines”, and the construction of hand washing facilities in 80 schools, rehabilitation of five KVIP latrines in the Volta, Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Central regions.

“All these show how serious the government is about the sanitation and water situation in the country. If the president didn’t have sanitation and the environment at heart, would he have led us to go for that loan to do such projects?”