Strategies for Improving and Sustaining Sanitation: The Role of Communication in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly

Abstract

The research aimed at evaluating the current sanitation strategies of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and examining innovative sanitation strategies for improving and sustaining sanitation: the role of communication in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly. Stakeholders in the sanitation industry within the Accra Metro, which is made up of the sub-Metros' District Environmental Health Officers and Workers, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Ghana were the subjects of the study. Out of a population of One hundred and ten (110), fifty (50) were randomly sampled. In the final analysis, the researcher found out that there was a significant level of low knowledge about the Ghana Environmental Health Sanitation Policy, which has been in the system for sixteen (16) years. The participation of stakeholders in the formulation of the sanitation policy was not appreciable as consultation took place at the Ministerial level leaving out the very players in the industry. The researcher also found out that, the Accra Metro was still using the old open dumping or crude dumping as well as discharging feacal matter directly into the sea without pre-treatment. Again, recycling which enable reuse and recovery of waste has not been employed extensively in the sanitation mix in the Accra Metro, as there is lack of funds. The findings are significant in the examination of the participatory theory of development communication.