Some communities in the Atiwa East District of the Eastern Region have been urged to end the practice of open defecation.
Residents of Akyem Mampong, Frimpongso, Vanderpuye and Ankaase, all in the Atiwa East District have been constantly practicing open defecation in their farms, backyards, rubbish dumping sites and sometimes in school buildings.
This practice has become a concern for the Assembly considering the effects of such insanitary conditions on health.
In an interview with Citi News on the sidelines of a Project Inception Workshop dubbed “Atiwa Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene” (WASH), organized by Centre for Development Partnership and Innovations (CDPI), and Ernst Peyer Foundation to sensitize Chiefs, Queen Mothers, Imams, Headteachers, Assembly members and other opinion leaders of the four communities, asked them to put a stop to open defecation.
The Executive Director for the Centre of Development Partnership and Innovations, Mr. John Nedjoh, called on community members to construct household latrines.
“The rate of open defecation here is quite very high because in some of the communities most of the residents have a nice thick plantation good for aforestation purposes, but it has become an avenue where residents go to freely defecate. Some residents have also rented out their houses to some mining migrants and because they are not permanent settlers when they come they prefer open defecation so this situation is very alarming”.
“Most of the residents do not also have latrines in their homes so they resort to any place they find comfortable. So we are advocating for every landlord, homeowner to construct a household latrine as part of efforts to end open defecation by the year 2019 in the Atiwa District”.
Mr. John Nedjoh also admonished the opinion leaders to ensure the correct use of institutional latrines which he believed were not properly managed.
“The institutional latrines constructed for schools were are also not used properly even though they were nicely constructed. We need to strengthen institutions and build capacities to make sure the water, sanitation and hygiene issues are addressed to benefit all communities”.
The Atiwa East District Chief Executive, Kwabena Panyin Nkansah, who was also concerned about the practice in a Citi News interview, revealed plans and initiatives by the Atiwa District Assembly to end open defecation and bring perpetrators to book.
“Through the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, the District Assembly has already initiated the household latrines and so far about 1,000 houses have been registered. Samples have also been made available to them for the owners to refer to it and construct same in their homes”.
“The Assembly has made the terms of payment flexible like a Susu style where the Assembly also supports in a way. It’s true that there is open defecation here, and the Assembly’s environmental health division is really working hard to bring this to an end, they do not spare people who engage in open defecation here, and we will collaborate with centre for development and Innovations and Ernst Peyer Foundation from Switzerland to end the practice once and for all”.
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By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citinewsroom.com/Ghana