The WASHCost Project is an action research project focusing and developing approaches that quantify the life cycle cost of delivering safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in the rural and peri-urban areas in the country and put the knowledge to use. The project is also implemented in the following countries: Burkina Faso, Mozambique and India.
Following its objectives of improving WASHCost governance, a research workshop has been opened at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology for participants across the world. The project is being implemented by the Department of Civil Engineering with partnership from sectors such as the Water and Sanitation Directorate (WSD), Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Ministry of Finance, among others.
Prof. I. K. Dontwi, Dean of the Faculty of Physical Sciences in the College of Science, KNUST who read a speech on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. K. K. Adarkwa stated that, “the workshop has come at the appropriate time when the nation and other sister developing nations lack the understanding and planning maintenance which has yielded in a high degree of non-functional water facilities in those countries”.
He added that, he was very excited and happy that, such a great initiative is being hosted in the University. He hoped that the answers to the research questions would be met. He afterwards bade them a fruitful deliberation.
Catarina Fonseca, the Director of WASHCost Project – IRC, acknowledged the University and the Ghana team for a successful organisation of the workshop. She added that, access to water and sanitation were prerequisites for health, dignity and economic development of every country so it was the responsibility of the organisation to embark on the research towards a sustainable delivery of water, sanitation and hygiene services. She hoped that information on findings relating to the subject would be used to solve related problem in the communities.
In an interview with Dr. Kwabena B. Nyarko, the Country’s Director, on the research communities, he stated that, the research would be conducted in three districts, each from the three selected regions in the country, namely, Ashanti, Volta, and Northern. He further said that, about two-thirds of the water facilities are not working in the country as a result of inadequate education, funds and people to take care of the maintenance. He, on the other hand made it clear that, the cost of conducting research is expensive, he then called for help from other donors to make the research a success.
