The Northern Region Small Towns Water and Sanitation Project (NORST), a Canadian supported programme, has presented vehicles and equipment, including laptops and accessories, to its partner organisations in the region to make their work easier. The items would also enable the organisations to support and monitor water supply,plan and manage sanitation in some deprived communities in the beneficiary districts.
The beneficiary organisations are the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing.
Project
The GH¢75 million NORST project, began in the Northern Region in 2009, is expected to be completed by 2016. It covers 20 small towns in 13 districts in the region.
According to the Counsellor in-Charge of Development at the Canadian High Commission in Ghana, Daniel Arsenault, the intervention also included the provision of a stock of basic facilities and capital equipment as well as technical assistance.
He explained further that the transfer of assets and responsibilities to the beneficiary organisations were part of the objective of the project, which was to strengthen, monitor and evaluate ongoing work at the community level.
Mr Arsenault indicated that apart from the provision of water and sanitation facilities, the Canadian Government was also funding projects in agriculture, food security and nutrition to improve on productivity and health of mothers, babies and children.
He revealed that his government had in recent times annually provided Ghana with GH¢250 million to tackle various development programmes in the country, particularly in Northern Ghana where poverty was endemic.
“So far we are satisfied with the outcome of the projects,” he said
Appreciation
A director of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu, who received the items on behalf of the beneficiary organisations expressed appreciation to the donor for the continuous support over the years.
He said the demonstration of good faith displayed by the management of NORST would be translated by judiciously using the facilities to make an impact on the deprived communities.
Alhaji Yakubu also expressed gratitude to the government and people of Canada for their tremendous support to the development of Ghana over the past years.
