Source: GARID Communication

The Government of Ghana, acting through the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) will give grants to 17 Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies (MMAs) under the World Bank-funded Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project to improve the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of drainage and flood mitigation infrastructure in communities along the Odaw River Basin in the Greater Accra Region. A total of $3,250,000 USD is expected to be disbursed to the MMAs over a period of 5-year

This was made known by Mr. Sylvanus Adzornu, Director of Policy Planning, Budget, Monitoring and Evaluation (PPBME) of the Ministry, at a workshop to develop tools for Rapid Needs Assessment which outcome will inform the first tranche of disbursement of the Local Capacity Support Grant to the beneficiary MMAs.   

 The Director of PPBME said the grant will build capacity of the staff of the beneficiary Assemblies and incentivize the MMAs to efficiently and effectively operate and maintain some drainage infrastructure in the districts. He explained that the grant will also promote the culture of maintenance among the MMAs. He, therefore, urged the Assemblies to make good use of the grant to improve flood mitigation and solid waste management facilities in their various Municipal and Metropolitan areas.

Mr. Adzornu further disclosed that the disbursement of the grant will be based on a yet to be determined assessment criteria under an O&M study. The study will lead to the development of specific O&M Manual and Plan, performance benchmarks, and an agreed set of indicators for progress assessment of the MMAs’ in implementation of O&M.

He, however, noted that whilst awaiting the completion of the study, there is the need to conduct a Rapid Assessment of O&M Needs of the participating MMAs which will be used as criteria for the first-year disbursement.

The second-year allocation of the grant, according to the PPBME Director, will be based on beneficiary MMAs’ performance on the O&M indicators in the fourth series of the District Performance Assessment Tool (DPAT IV). Subsequent disbursements will be guided by the GARID’s Local Capacity Support Grant Scheme’s (CSGS) own indicators.

The MMAs to benefit from the Capacity Support Grant Scheme are Accra Metropolitan Assembly; Ablekuma Central, North, and West Municipal Assemblies; Adentan Municipal Assembly; Ayawaso Central, East, North, and West Municipal Assemblies,  Ga Central, East, North, and West Municipal Assemblies; La Dade Kotopon Municipal Assembly; La-Nkwantanang Madina Municipal Assembly, Okaikoi North Municipal Assembly, and Osu Klottey Municipal Assembly.

 The Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project is a World Bank-funded project that seeks to improve flood risk and solid waste management in the Odaw River Basin and improve access to basic infrastructure and services in the targeted flood-prone low-income communities in the Greater Accra region. The project is jointly being implemented by Ministry of Works and Housing (MWH), Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR), Ministry of Inner City and Zongo Development (MICZD), Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) and Ministry of Health (MoH).