Government Regulations on Rural Water Safety-Ghana

Abstract

Portable water accessibility remains one of the key issues in development. A survey from the United Nations, 2010 indicates that about 783 million people (11% of the global population) remain without access to an improved source of drinking water. The Government of Ghana has come out with numerous water projects in some poor communities in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions, yet unhygienic water and water pollution seems to still be a challenge facing citizens of this communities. It is therefore against this background that this research was conducted to find out about the impact of Government regulatory practices on water safety in the Wa Municipality which is in the upper west region. The study was guided by these questions: Does Government regulations on service assessment affect water safety? Does monitoring and control practice have a productive result on water safety? Do management plan on water safety has a direct impact on water safety? Does government released funds on water safety embarked upon as planned?  The study employed the good governance theory, social capital theory, and the institutional change theory. The study did an empirical review of related literatures to answer the various research questions. It was revealed from the empirical review that service assessment, monitoring and control, effective management plan and government released funds intended for their right purposes have a significant positive effect on water safety.  The study therefore recommended an implementation of a working and effective service assessment systems and monitoring and control mechanisms over water projects to ensure the provision of portable water to the intended communities in the municipality. Also, there is the need for the implementation of an effective management plan for water projects, as well as the timely provision and the right usage of project fund.

Keywords: Government Regulations, Monitoring and Control, Service Assessment, Rural Water Safety.