… Encourages Ghanaians to go back to the taps
Posted: The Chronicle |Thursday, February 18, 2010
By Charles Takyi - Boadu
The Ghana Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations in the Water and Sanitation Sector (CONIWAS) is advocating for a total ban on thin plastics used in the production of packaged water in the country.
It believes the production and consumption pattern of sachet water is not sustainable, since environmental pollution of thin plastics, and the associated economic costs to the nation, far outweighed the employment benefits it creates for those who engage in it.
It has therefore welcomed the government decision to place a 20% ad valerom tax on the product, since according to the group, abandoning tap water altogether, as a result of what it describes as marketing gimmicks and perceived poor quality, and resorting to packaged water as a main source of drinking water, constitutes development in the wrong direction.
Speaking at a news conference in Accra yesterday, Vice Chair of CONIWAS and Director of Public Policy Women and Development GrassRoots Africa, Hawa Nibi Amenga-Etego, stressed the urgent need for Ghanaians to shun packaged water, and to revert to the use of taps, since “the infiltration of bottled and sachet water into our market has become the biggest threat to the realisation of the right to water in Ghana.”
She argued that the decision had successfully diverted people’s attention away from more affordable sources, to more expensive and unsustainable bottled and sachet water, which costs 500 times (in the case of sachet water) and 1,600 times (in the case of bottled water) higher than other improved sources of water such as the taps, with little or no more improvement in the quality.
Meanwhile, General Comment 15 (GC15) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) sets out the tripartite responsibility of states to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to water.
It further states that a state (nation) protects the right by preventing third parties (including private companies) from interfering with the enjoyment of the right, including the imposition of appropriate regulatory measures (including taxes) on such parties.
However, the majority of Ghanaians still heavily rely on tap water, and other improved sources beside the bottled and sachet ones, as their sole source of drinking water.
Information gathered from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicates that only 8.2% of Ghanaians drink bottled and sachet water as a source of drinking water alongside other improved sources, with the urban being 15.2%, whilst the rural constitutes only 1.8%.
CONIWAS noted that the poor would constitute a small fraction of this percentage, hence the production of sachet and bottled water constitutes commodification of water and interference in the right of the people to water, which is a fundamental human right, insisting that “a service as essential as water, cannot be subject to market focus.”
Consequently, the group, in collaboration with the Foundation for Grassroots Initiatives in Africa (GrassRoots Africa), has urged Ghanaians to bring pressure to bear on the government, and demand sufficient water of acceptable quality through taps, as the only way to guarantee the enjoyment of the right to water by all.
It is also advocating for the government to focus the 20% ad valerom tax on water, rather than the packaging material, and asked for proceeds from the tax to be channeled to the relevant authorities to improve water supply.
CONIWAS is also pushing for a separate tax for plastics to be considered more broadly, beyond packaging material or bottled and sachet water, whilst calling on the government to appropriate 25% of the talk tax, and 5% of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) levy, to finance Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services (WASH), considering that these services are pivotal to the development of all other sectors of the economy.
Just like the rural water levy of 2% on all utility bills, which goes to support investment in the rural subsector, the group is also asking the government to consider an additional charge of 1%, dedicated to the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), solely for infrastructure investment, instead of depending entirely on donors for this.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Private sector gets facelift
…as BUSAC gets a plus …as BUSAC gets a plus
Posted: The Chronicle |Thursday, February 18, 2010
By Charles Takyi - Boadu
Ms. Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Trade & Industry
Industry players are gradually gaining confidence in some private sector initiatives, and their ability to partner the public sector in the development of the nation.
Typical is the case of the Director of the Local Government Training Institute (LGTI), Dr. Esther Ofei-Aboagye, who is overwhelmed at the contribution of the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge Fund (BUSAC-fund) to the development of the nation, since it became operational five years ago.
“Overall, the work of the BUSAC-fund has provided several initiatives and beginnings that could lead to real change in public sector responsiveness to private sector enablement,” was how she put it.
Beyond collaboration in investments, she said the BUSAC-fund’s interventions has fostered partnerships between the public sector and private sector groupings, by helping to break down walls of suspicion, and fostering cooperation and familiarisation.
Speaking at a BUSAC end-of-project event in Accra, Dr. Ofei-Aboagye stressed on the belief that public sector agencies’ suspicion of civil society groups and business associations and economic groupings, had reduced enough to respond to such invitations, and through the collaboration, gaining key contact points within the business community to work with.
That notwithstanding, she stated that considerable interest had been built amongst business associations to be pro-active in demanding engagement with public sector agencies.
She commended the management team of the project, and all stakeholders who helped in making the difference.
On her part, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr. Joyce Aryee, emphasised how useful the Fund has been to the Chamber.
This, according to her, was evident in the fact that the BUSAC-fund had enhanced the Chamber’s advocacy capacity.
Furthermore, she noted, it had also been able to make impacts on the activities of regulatory bodies, including the Minerals Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other civil society organisations.
BUSAC aims to make an impact by enabling the private sector, including business membership organisations, trades unions and media, to influence public policy formulation by undertaking appropriate research, developing evidence based policy positions, and advocating those positions with the government and other private sector institutions/organisations, which may be targeted by the action.
It was originally launched by DANIDA, as part of the broader Business Sector Programme Support, but now attracts support from the DFID (which is pooling its support through an arrangement with DANIDA) and the USAID (which is willing to support export related advocacy projects).
The arrangement to involve DFID and USAID is covered under a Memorandum of Understanding, agreed and signed in March 2005.
The fund management has been contracted by DANIDA to COWI, which has appointed Dr. Dale Rachmeler as Project Manager. He is assisted by a team recruited locally.
The Fund is accessible through a competitive demand-driven mechanism, and transparent selection of the best advocacy actions proposed by associations within the Private Sector.
The BUSAC-fund finances, through grants, up to 90% of the cost of the Advocacy Actions that are selected in each “Call for Application.”
The Actions are then implemented by the Grantees themselves, with the help of the Service Providers they may have chosen to complement theirs.
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