The P2P WASH Project Coordinator for SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, Mrs Agartha Quayson, has stated that bottled and sachet water manufactured by existing companies are not hundred per cent hygienic for consumption by the public.
According to Mrs Quayson, bottled and sachet water could expose individuals to infectious diseases.
The poor hygienic conditions under which some bottled and sachet water are packaged and their handling by individuals with unhygienic hands at the point of sale, according to her, take away the credibility of being classified as hygienic water and safe for consumption.
In a brief statement to the press during NSV’s first media encounter in Kumasi held in collaboration with the Ashanti Regional chapter of Ghana Water and Sanitation Journalist Association (GWSJ), Mrs Quayson noted that water carried and offloaded by tanker trucks at various homes for domestic purposes could not be classified as improved water.
She said some bottled and sachet water which has flooded the market has issues of leakages since some of the bottles and sachets are not properly sealed by the water companies.
She, therefore, called for an action from the appropriate authorities to ensure clean water is supplied to the public.
To promote sanitation and hygiene, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited are implementing the P2P project, which is a five-year project funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
With a revolving fund of 4,000,000 Euros, P2P is a project that seeks to improve access to finance and technical assistance for households and house owners and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises for water, sanitation and hygiene instruments and services.
The project, according to Mrs Quayson, stems from the fact that private sector players within Ghana’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector find it increasingly difficult to access finance for their business activities from traditional financial institutions, including banks and non-banking financial institutions.
This, she revealed, had resulted in weak linkages across the water and sanitation services and value chain.
Since April 2015 when the project started, 475 loans valued at GH¢ 6,264,300, according to the coordinator, have been disbursed and that 54 businesses have been trained in business management, financial management, wash services and value chain and business practices under the project.
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