The 25th anniversary of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) celebrated in Chiana, Upper East Region, with a focus on enabling households to link their homes to the Town Water System for improved access to water.
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More than 40,000 inhabitants in Ejura and surrounding areas of the Ashanti Region now have access to clean, potable water, thanks to the completion of a Water Supply Project costing GH¢15 million. This project, spearheaded by Ejurahene Barima Osei Hwedie II, aims to alleviate water shortages in the rapidly expanding population of the region.
The Government of Ghana through Community Water and Sanitation Agency has handed over site for work to commence on a Ghc50 million water supply project for Goaso, Ahafo Regional Capital.
The project which is to end the current water crises following the creation of new region and Goaso been it’s Capital with fast growing populations has been awarded to two contractors, Pumptech limited and Beda Engineers Construction Limited is expected to be completed in two years period.
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The Community Water Services Sub-sector has since 1994, operated under the guidance of the National Community Water and Sanitation Programme (NCWSP). The NCWSP was launched in 1994 and temporarily facilitated by the Community Water and Sanitation Division, of the then Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation. In 1998, The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) was established by an Act of Parliament, Act 564 with the mandate to facilitate the provision of safe drinking water and related sanitation services to rural communities and small towns and to coordinate all stakeholders and interventions towards the implementation of NCWSP.
(BY MRS. PAULINE ESTELLA PEBLA TAMBRO – CHIEF PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER, CWSA)
BACKGROUND
The Community water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), initiated policy reforms in the Rural Water and Sanitation Sub-sector in 2017, with the aim of changing the management of water supply services from the existing Community Management to professionalized management model. The change in policy was triggered by recommendations gathered from various Stakeholders engagements and available research findings in the sector which pointed to the fact that the Community Management Model has not been efficient enough to ensure sustainable management of water supply infrastructure which government and its development partners have committed huge investments into providing. The initial engagements based on a concept paper led to the development of a Framework for the Reform which was also presented to sector stakeholders for validation at the national and regional levels.
CWSA KICK STARTS REGIONAL ENGAGEMENTS ON NEW COMMUNITY WATER SERVICES POLICY
(BY MRS. PAULINE ESTELLA PEBLA TAMBRO – CHIEF PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER, CWSA)
The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) has launched a series of programmes to educate stakeholders and the general public on the new Community Water Services Policy (CWSP) which has been developed as part of the Agency’s reform process.
To ensure adequate understanding of the new policy and this stage of the reform process by the staff of the Agency and sector stakeholders, the Chief Executive of the CWSA, Ing. Worlanyo K. Siabi, together with a team from the Head Office organized the maiden regional engagements with the CWSA Regional and Water Systems Management Staff in the Volta, Eastern and Central regions from the 22nd to the 26th of February, 2021. The team made presentations on the new CWSP, status, achievements and challenges of the Reform so far and two APPs internally developed by the Agency’s IT Team on Human Resource Management and Billing.
𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃
The Community water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), initiated policy reforms in the Rural Water and Sanitation Sub-sector in 2017, with the aim of changing the management of water supply services from the existing Community Management to professionalized management model. The change in policy was triggered by recommendations gathered from various Stakeholders engagements and available research findings in the sector which pointed to the fact that the Community Management Model has not been efficient enough to ensure sustainable management of water supply infrastructure which government and its development partners have committed huge investments into providing. The initial engagements based on a concept paper led to the development of a Framework for the Reform which was also presented to sector stakeholders for validation at the national and regional levels.
As part of the process, a cabinet memo was subsequently submitted to Cabinet by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) for consideration for approval towards the amendment of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency Act, 1998 (Act 564) to transform the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) into a utility service organization, with focus on application of innovation and professional skills in the management of water systems to achieve sustainability. In November 2019, Cabinet gave its approval for the CWSA policy reforms. This paved the way for the next stage of the reform process which was the development of the new Community Water Services Policy (CWSP) based on which the amendment of the Act 564 will be made to transform the CWSA from a facilitating Agency to a new utility organization called the Community Water Services Authority (CWSA).
The Community Water Services Policy has been aligned with Government’s vision for the Sub-Sector as enshrined in the Water Sector Strategic Development Plan (WSSDP), expressed as ‘all people living in Ghana have access to adequate, safe, affordable, reliable and sustainable water services, and practice safe sanitation and hygiene’.The formulation of the CWSP is based on discussions held in multi-level workshops, and extensive consultations with key stakeholders at national, regional, district, sub-district and community levels in the Community Water Services Sub-sector.
The purpose of the CWSP is to provide policy measures and define the implementation arrangements required to support the achievement of the government’s vision for the sector as stated above. The policy also provides direction and guidance for water services provision and supports decision-makers and stakeholders in determining “how things are done” and “who does what”. Most importantly, the amendment of the current CWSA Act, Act 564, will be based on the CWSP.
Nine focal areas and strategic actions have been identified under the CWSP. These include; Access to Potable Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Finance, Public Private Partnership (PPP), Knowledge Management, Research and Innovation, Pro-poor Support, Climate Variability and Change, Sustainability of Water Services and Water Safety.
The new Community Water Services Authority (CWSA) when established, will be the lead Rural Water and Sanitation Sub-Sector Organisation. It will provide and manage safe water supply and related sanitation services to rural communities and small towns and will coordinate all actors and interventions in the sub-sector including NGOs and Private Sector water services providers.
𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝗪 𝐂𝗪𝐒𝐀 𝐀𝐒 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝗪𝐒𝐏
When established, the functions of the new CWSA will include the following:
Attendance to the engagement was very encouraging and participants showed a lot of enthusiasm in the presentations as they sat through and listened keenly in all sessions. At the end of the engagements, the objective of ensuring adequate understanding of the new policy was achieved as participants asked very engaging questions and made concrete contributions towards improving the content of CWSP and the two APPs.
𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒
The following is a pictorial presentation on the maiden regional engagements in the Volta, Eastern and Central regions.
On Wednesday, November 25, 2020, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) signed a historic Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with Grundfos Pumps, the world’s largest manufacturer of pumps and with 75 years in the industry.
Click there to read rore: (Wash Times)
Source: Mrs. Pauline Estella Pebla Tambro – Chief Pr Manager, CWSA
PRESS STATEMENT ON END OF FREE WATER ISSUED IN ACCRA ON 23 DECEMBER 2020
With reference to the Presidential directive on provision of Free Water to Ghanaians from April to December 2020, as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country, Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, wish to inform all customers in rural communities and small towns that effective Thursday 31st December, 2020, the provision of Free Water to Ghanaians comes to an end.
In this regard, customers of CWSA, and all other water services providers in the rural Subsector namely; Private Water Providers, Water & Sanitation Management Committees (WSMTs) and NGOs, as well as the general public should please note that, effective 1st January 2021, the monthly payment of bills for water consumed will become the responsibility of the customers and not Government of Ghana. All categories of water services providers who participated in the provision of Free Water within the designated period are also to note that CWSA will not accept bills on water consumed by their customers from 1st January 2021. They are therefore advised to revert to the former methods of billing and collection of payment from customers.
CWSA also wishes to inform all consumers in rural communities and small towns that the Agency’s Water System Management Staff (WSMS) will resume full operations in connection with billing, meter reading and revenue collection from customers at the designated places as was done before the commencement of the Free Water. These staff will identify themselves appropriately and observe all the Covid-19 protocols within the premises of customers.
The Agency wishes customers to note however that, observance of the covid-19 protocols at all public standpipes manned by vendors as well as all premises of the Water System Offices will be strictly enforced. Community members are therefore reminded to continue to observe the following preventive instructions at public standpipes:
Community Water and Sanitation Agency would like to assure its customers of continuous supply of safe water and quality services.
The Agency and the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources express their sincere gratitude to all Customers and Water Services Providers for their cooperation towards the implementation of the presidential directive of Free Water to rural communities and small towns throughout the nine months period.
On behalf of the Sector Minister, Board and Management of CWSA, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2021.
Pauline Tambra (Mrs.)
Chief Public Relations Manager
Lick there to download files: End of Free Water, CWSA
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