Stakeholders in the Water and Sanitation sectors on Friday expressed support for the proposed 20 percent tax on packaged water
At a workshop to discuss government’s budgetary allocation for the sector, participants agreed that there was the need for more funding in the sector to enable them provide efficient water and sanitation services to all people.
Mr Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, General Manager, Communications at Aqua Vitens Rand Limited, Operators of Ghana Water Company Limited, suggested that the tax should not only be on bottled water but also on sachet water since the latter was produced more and caused more environmental problems.
He said some percentage of the tax should be used for development in the water and sanitation sectors to ensure better provision of services.
Mr Sakyi-Addo pointed out that the water sector especially needed more investment in terms of infrastructure and equipment, and stressed that there was the need for increased funding in the sector.
Other participants at the workshop agreed that the tax should be implemented and some even suggested that a greater chunk of monies accrued from such taxes should be used mainly for development in the water sector.
The workshop was organized by GrassRoots Africa, a non governmental organization that advocates for improved water and sanitation services especially in rural areas to discuss possible funding options for development in the sector.
Mr Rudolf Amego-Etego, Executive Director of GrassRoots Africa said the lack of money in the sector was the biggest obstacle that hindered the implementation of policies that could help Ghana achieved improved services in the water and sanitation sectors.
The Water and Sanitation sector is the pivot of development, he added.