The CLTS model, which encourages communities to use local materials to construct latrines was adopted in 2015 and triggered the certification of 15 communities as open defecation free, with 42 more being certified in 2016.

Speaking at a ceremony to unveil the 2017 Upper East Regional Open Defecation Free League table in Bolgatnaga, Acting Regional Environmental Office Juventius Asayuure said, the region was on course to end open defecation by 2019.

On the league table, the Garu-Tempane District came first, followed by the Binduri, Bawku West, Kassena-Nankana West and Bongo Districts.

The rest are the Builsa South, Pusiga, Builsa North, and Talensi Districts. The Kassena-Nanaka Municipality and the Nabdam and Bolgatanga districts came last.

Mr. Asayuure, however expressed worry at the alarming rate of open defecation in the urban areas while rural communities were embracing the CLTS model.

He challenged those authorities responsible for these areas to enforce sanitation by-laws by prosecuting and naming and shaming sanitation offenders.

Mr. Asayuure added that, eight police prosecutors have been sent to Tamale for a refresher course to strengthen the fight against open defecation.

The stakeholder forum, attended by co-coordinating directors, environmental health officers, Municipal and District Chief Executives and civil society organizations, deliberated on how to scale up the model to cover more communities.

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Disclosing this at the inauguration of the Bolga East district in Zuarungu, the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Joseph Kofi Adda, said the intervention will address the alarming rate of open defecation.

“When it comes to open defecation, out of ten people, only one person uses  a toilet facility and the remaining nine defecate in public and this is not good enough for our health.  But on my part as a Minister, I have made available fifty toilet facilities for construction this year for the Bolga East District. This will contribute towards reducing the menace of open defecation and aid in our quest to achieving the sustainable development goal six”.

Mr. Adda was also optimistic that, the district’s water challenges would soon be resolved when the $42m Tono water treatment plant construction is finally completed.

He hinted that government was about concluding a credit facility from the World Bank to develop and construct the Pwalugu Multi-Purpose dam which will add  250 megawatts of electricity to the national grid and facilitate irrigation farming in the district.

Member of Parliament for Bolga East, Dr. Dominic Ayine, lauded government for the creation of the district and urged Assembly members to eschew  petty partisanship disagreements which would retard the development of the area.

He appealed to land owners to release land for the construction of the district assembly office block and other structures which befit the status of a district.

He also wants government to facilitate the completion of  the Zuarungu market to support the assembly generate revenue for development.

The Bolga East District Assembly is currently using the Ministry of Food and Agriculture office block as its   temporary office block.

Inauguration of Tempane and Garu Districts

The Garu and Tempane districts were also inaugurated respectively at the  Tempane park.

Upper East Regional Minister Rockson Bukari, said the creation of the two districts was evident that government is committed to bring development to the doorsteps of the people.

Zoonlion Ghana also supported the district with ten tricycles and thirty waste bins.

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Due to its importance, it features as goal six of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which states: “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”

In spite of its importance, sanitation in Bugubelle, a community in the Sissala East of the Upper West Region leaves much to be desired.

One of the aspects of the poor sanitation situation in Bugubelle is open defaecation.

Sadly, the indigenes don’t have an idea how dangerous this act is to their health.

According to the Assemblyman, out of the more than five hundred households in the community only a handful of these households have a pit latrine.

He narrated that, latrines that Plan Ghana, a non-governmental organisation supported to be built were in households of opinion leaders of the community. These latrines have deteriorated and most of the indigenes practice open defaecation.

In addition to this effort, there’re only two public toilets in the community: for the basic school and another built close to the market; unfortunately, due to poor maintenance culture, the facility close to the market is nothing to write home about – the facility has human excreta littered in front of it, the slabs that covered the holes are broken and refuse dumped around the whole place.

According to a native, there was initially a committee that was set up to see to the maintenance of the facility but unfortunately the committee has been dissolved for reasons unknown.

The Assemblyman revealed that a couple of months ago, the District Assembly requested that the community provide one person to be trained in building household latrines in the community.

The Assemblyman stated that, the trainee has reported to him that the indigenes have started showing interest in owning household latrines after an initial lack of interest in the idea.

Although such interest has been shown in owning household latrines, there’s the need for consistent and persuasive sanitation education in the community.

Taking the indigenes of Bugubelle through the importance, health and social benefits of owning household latrines will ensure that the act of open defaecation will be a thing of the past.

Also, it will make the indigenes to take the initiative of constructing their own household latrines without waiting for the District Assembly or a non-governmental organisation to solve their challenges for them. That is development.

It will give the indigenes the understanding of taking charge of issues on sanitation management in the community since they are already aware of selecting group of persons who will see to the management of various aspects of their lives. Sanitation education for the indigenes of Bugubelle will bring an end to open defaecation in the community, and the community loses only the indignity and the diseases that accompany poor sanitation in our communities. Sanitation education is important to all.

It borders on health, and health is wealth.

–

By: Alex Blege

The writer is a freelance journalist.

Writer’s email: [email protected]/[email protected]

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Alex Damptey, the Environmental Science Officer for KEEA, told Citi News the five will be arraigned soon.

[contextly_sidebar id=”qeTBZR4dZ8YT2NY7PjCpAPTw6E1CFQNB”]Narrating circumstances under which the five were arrested, Mr. Damptey said: “In our municipality, we try to go round to ensure that people do not do wrong and this morning around 5: 30, the task-force went round and spotted these people defecating openly at an unauthorized area.

“Unfortunately, one of our honourable members happened to be one of them, and he was also added and as I speak to you, they have all been sent to the Police station while we prepare them for the next line of action, that is prosecution. We arrested five people and as I speak to you they are still in the grips of the Police.”

KEEA fights open defecation to boost economy

A few weeks ago, it came to the fore that the KEEA Municipality was vigorously combating open defecation as a way of boosting the economy of the area.

Two of the area’s economic backbones, tourism and salt mining, have been negatively affected by the menace in recent years, but the Municipal Assembly says it has now mapped out measures to deal with it.

The Environmental Officer of the Municipality, Alex Kwame Damptey, noted that, open defecation, especially in and around Elmina, is largely due to the influx of fisher folks from different parts of the country as a result of the vast landing bay at Elmina.

208 districts in Ghana still practicing open defecation

In November 2017, the UNICEF District League Table report indicated that, only eight of Ghana’s 216 districts had at least a one-third [33 percent] of their communities not engaged in open defecation.

As yet, no district in Ghana has been certified as Open Defecation Free, which is the main measure under the sanitation indicator of the UNICEF District League Table.

Ghana failing to provide decent toilets

According to the U.N, 2.5 billion people do not have access to toilet facilities, most of which are in developing countries like Ghana.

Ghana was recently noted among the top 10 countries worldwide with the highest percentage of its population without decent toilets according to a report from international NGO, WaterAid.

Ghana has about 85.7 percent of its population without decent toilets, and this equals about 23 million people, according to the report.

36% of public basic schools without toilets – Report

About 7,332 out of the 20,738 public basic schools in the country do not have toilet facilities, while 6,922 do not have urinal facilities.

Additionally, 11,985, representing 58 percent of the basic schools, do not have water facilities.

For instance, out of the 3,754 public basic schools in the Ashanti Region, 1,427 are without toilet facilities, and in the Western Region 1,132 out of the 2,408 schools are without toilets.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Two of the area’s economic backbones, tourism and salt mining, have been negatively affected by the menace in recent years, but the Municipal Assembly has now mapped out measures to deal with it.

According to the Environmental Officer of the Municipality, Alex Kwame Damptey, open defecation, especially in and around Elmina, has been due to the influx of fisher folks from different parts of the country as a result of the vast landing bay at Elmina.

He explained most of the fishermen who flock to Elmina stay mostly in their canoes and other fishing vessels and resort to indiscriminate defecation along the beaches.

Another factor for the menace is the lack of toilet facilities in many households, which leads to open defecation in gutters, on the beaches and at refuse dumps.

According to the Environmental Officer, the perpetrators say they “have their comfort” defecating at the beaches, an act they describe as “free range”.

He admits the pollution has to be sustainably tackled since it has the potential to affect the eagerness of tourists to stay for prolonged periods of time when they visit sites like the Elmina Castle.

Speaking to Citi News, the Officer in Charge of the Elmina Castle, Ato Eshun, noted: “The open defecation at Elmina may not necessarily affect the arrival of visitors, but it could affect the visitors staying longer because after you have gone through the Elmina Castle, you would want to walk along the beach but it is soiled, so you would back off and the time you would want to spend in Elmina would be shortened.”

He further revealed the on-going construction of a sea defence around the Castle and the recent prosecution, by the Assembly, of people who defecate openly have helped in drastically minimizing the shameful act.

On the salt mining industry in the area, Mr. Damptey lamented how people used to defecate at the mining sites, stating that their actions almost collapsed the business.

“You go to Dentsido, Bronyibima and some few areas where we have salt industries, and some notorious persons decide to defecate in the pans, which is very serious; businesses are falling apart. People have made investments in salt mining,” Mr. Damptey reveals.

The Assembly has intensified public education, arrests and prosecution of perpetrators as well as the engagement of fisher folks along the beaches to adopt good sanitation practices at the beaches in order to improve the sales they make from the catches.

Landlords are also under strict regulations to construct toilet facilities for their families and tenants.

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By: Joseph Ackon Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Effutu Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), John B. Ninson, made this known when he addressed the second ordinary meeting of the Assembly at Winneba, during which its 2018 budget was approved, including a procurement and action plan.

The MCE said the Assembly will construct a 23-seater biogas toilet with ancillary facilities in the Municipality as part of efforts to end open defecation.

The Assembly will also construct toilet facilities along the coast and other areas in the Municipality.

These projects, Mr. Ninson noted, should help the Assembly to beat the June, 2019 target deadline set by the Central Regional Coordinating Council (CRCC) for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to attain Open Defecation Free status in the Region.

He said the construction of public places of convenience along the beaches would discourage the citizens from practising open defecation, and would also serve as the basis for prosecution of people who break the law.

The MCE said the CRCC had designed a criterion to check issues of sanitation, and therefore, urged the citizenry in to change their behaviour towards the environment and make their surroundings clean.

Mr Ninson announced that as at September 31, 2017 the Assembly had mobilized GH¢644,110.85 representing 75.96 percent out of the estimated GH¢848,000.00 of Internally Generated Funds (IGF) for the year ending 31st December 2017.

He disclosed that the Assembly received a total of GH¢769.471.91 as its share of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) for the first and the second quarters of the year.

“A total net amount received for the first quarter was GH¢355,846.31 and GH¢413,625.60 for the second quarter respectively after statutory deductions,” he stated.

On Physical development projects the Assembly is executing using the Common Fund, the MCE noted the construction of a 16-seater Aqua Privy Toilet and the Office Complex Block, which he said were at various stages of completion.

Under the Urban Development Grant projects, he said the Assembly was grading and opening up a 3.9km by-pass and U- Drains, which were about 45 percent complete.

The construction of five two-bedroom self-contained apartments which were about 55 percent complete and Nurses and Teachers Quarters with ancillary facilities were part also included.

Mr Ninson said under the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, which was one of the flagship programmes of the government, the Assembly had registered 150 maize farmers with 509.4 hectares as total acreage cropped area, and 45 vegetable farmers with a cropped area of 111.8 hectares.

He said under the programme, the Assembly received 2,545 fertilizer made up of 1,430 bags of NPK and 1,115 bags of Urea which were distributed to the farmers.

He added that the Assembly had also identified Cashew and Coconut as models to embark on, under the government’s Planting for Jobs and Investment programme.

–

Source: GNA

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“I know you can because you have demonstrated that before,” she said, adding that between 2011 and 2014, Upper West was the only region that reduced its open defecation rate by almost 22 percent, having moved from 71.10 per cent to 49.20 percent, the highest in the country.

[contextly_sidebar id=”vcUcrWLahwvnyLrq0Xb0KbqRhbmyD2r2″]Madam Halm threw the challenge during the launch of the Social Norms Campaign dubbed: “Open Defecation Free Campaign” in Wa on Tuesday.

She requested the region to put in place the necessary strategies and commit resources to achieve the target it had set itself for eliminating open defecation.

“It is indeed possible to attain the region-wide ODF with the requisite political will and resources”, she said.

She noted that with the launch of the campaign, complementing the ongoing behaviour change activities in the region, the region was on its way to making a turnaround in the sanitation statistics again, as all the districts have pledged to achieve their open defecation free targets.

The UNICEF WASH Officer congratulated government, especially the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, for taking steps to improve the sanitation situation in Ghana through the National Sanitation campaign.

“We as UNICEF support the endeavours of the government to ensure that no one is left behind in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) not just in Ghana, but around the world,” she said.

The objective of the ODF Ghana Campaign is to create awareness that open defecation is dangerous and affects the personal and collective well-being of Ghanaians.

It is also to help change individual behaviour on negative sanitation practices at the household level.

The campaign further seeks to create a social change, specifically a social norm of using latrines instead of using the bush, which will lead to ODF communities and districts.

–

Source: GNA

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As yet, no district in Ghana has been certified as Open Defecation Free, which is the main measure under the sanitation indicator of the UNICEF District League Table.

[contextly_sidebar id=”0K4IcDvUltUkyiO8WorWi6iJTs8c6SeN”]Despite this, the UNICEF District League Table report cited sanitation as a “key area of improvement”.

The eight districts which have been able to provide decent toilet facilities for at least one third of their communities are Mion, Kumbungu and Tatale Sanguli in Northern Region, Bawku West and Pusiga in Upper East, and Lambussie Karni, Nandom and Wa East in Upper West Region.

UNICEF collaborated with the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources to evaluate the sanitation situation.

Ghana failing to provide decent toilets

According to the U.N, 2.5 billion people do not have access to toilet facilities, most of which are in developing countries like Ghana.

Ghana was recently noted among the top 10 countries worldwide with the highest percentage of its population without decent toilets according to a report from international NGO, WaterAid.

Ghana has about 85.7 percent of its population without decent toilets, and this equals about 23 million people, according to the report.

The government is aware of the problem, and has indicated that, it intends to construct toilet facilities in various homes across the country as an effective measure of addressing open defecation.

This was in response to threats by the World Bank to withdraw support to Ghana if measures were not taken to address sanitation challenges.

The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Kofi Adda, has indicated that he is targeting the provision of one million toilets nationwide.

Recently in Parliament, the government was seeking approval for an additional loan facility of $45.7 million from the International Development Bank, to finance a sustainable rural water and sanitation project.

This project is to help expand access to, and ensure sustainability of water supply and sanitation services in rural and small-town communities in six regions of Ghana.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Ghana has about 85.7 percent of its population without decent toilets and this equals about 23 million people who suffer the fear and indignity of relieving themselves in the open or in unsafe or unhygienic toilets.

[contextly_sidebar id=”EzaZflgPkkkd5FWbV5s9XKPr6EmFvJm5″]This is contained in a report entitled ‘Out of Order’ released by WaterAid, an international Non-Governmental Organization in its 2017 state of the world’s toilets.

According to the report, the lack of decent toilets around the world prevents women and girls from fulfilling their potential.

“Out of Order” is WaterAid’s third-annual analysis of the world’s toilets. It reveals that globally, one in three people still have nowhere decent to go to toilet, and demonstrates how women and girls bear the brunt of this global crisis. For more than 1.1 billion women and girls, this injustice results in an increased risk of poor health, limited education, harassment and even attack.

Among the other findings, all 10 of the world’s worst countries for access to basic sanitation are in sub-Saharan Africa, where only 28 per cent of people have decent toilet, and children are 14 times more likely to die before the age of five than in developed regions.

The statement indicated that in Djibouti, a major route for refugees from the Yemen war, has the worst figures for open defecation, with a 7.2% increase since 2000.

The report stated “Cambodia has emerged from decades of conflict to become one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. It comes second for progress in reducing open defecation as well as improving access to basic sanitation.”

Miss Nyaku recalled “Between 2000 and 2015, the number of people in the world defecating in the open dropped from 1.2 billion (20% of the global population) to 892 million (12%). Despite this progress, it is still a huge problem, resulting in enough faeces to fill seven bathtubs every second going into the environment untreated.”

She said Ghana recently launched a sanitation campaign aimed at addressing the poor sanitation situation, and that, WaterAid Ghana feared that, “without adequate funds, the plans outlined to fight the sanitation menace may not be fully implemented.”

The Communication and Campaign Officer said “in commemoration of World Toilet Day, WaterAid Ghana is calling on government to invest more money and spend it transparently and efficiently, paying particular attention to the needs of women and girls.”

According to her, the NGO further entreats government to promote the value of sanitation for gender equality and female empowerment, and involve women as leaders to ensure solutions address the challenges women and girls face.

“Improve coordination to create gender-friendly toilets in all schools, healthcare facilities, work environments and public spaces” She added.

She said WaterAid also calls on government to “combine plans to improve access to sanitation with efforts to redistribute water and hygiene work, which is predominantly the responsibility of women and girls.”

–

Source: GNA

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Later on in 2013, the UN General Assembly declared November 19 as World Toilet Day. Since then the world has always celebrated this day to raise awareness on the need for toilets for all. The theme for this year is: “wastewater”.

What is the relationship between wastewater and toilet? According to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Six, “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” makes wastewater and toilets a matter of health and human rights. Again, wastewater is classified in two classes: grey water and blackwater.  Greywater is waste water that is produced from non-toilet sources. These include showers, basins and taps. Whereas, blackwater is produced from its mixture with waste from toilets.

Globally, it is estimated that 80 per cent of the wastewater generated by society flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused. Further, only 39% of the global population (2.9 billion people) uses a safely-managed sanitation service, that is, excreta safely disposed of in situ or treated off-site.

In Ghana the narrative is not different. According to a 2016 report: “Assessment of Wastewater Treatment Plants in Ghana” authored by the Civil Engineering Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, it was noted that Ghana has a very low coverage for wastewater and faecal sludge treatment which is mostly sewerage systems. The national average for sewerage is as low as 4.5 per cent. Where does the rest of the wastewater that is generated from the mixture of toilet go? Obviously, wastewater that is generated becomes a pollutant to surface and underground water sources since wastewater is left to flow freely into these sources.

The pollution of the water bodies as a result of the lack of treatment and reuse of wastewater leads to water borne diseases. It also poses danger to aquatic life.

The report further states that there’re two municipal and three metropolitan assemblies that have wastewater and faecal sludge treatment plants in Ghana – Ho and Ashaiman Municipal and Accra, Kumasi and Tamale Metropolitan Assemblies.

The above paints a gloomy picture of Ghana’s management of wastewater that is generated from toilets in over two hundred municipal and district assemblies. It then questions the possibility of achieving the third target of SDG Six: “by 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimising release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater, and increasing recycling and safe use globally”. The consequences of the current situation are dire.

It shows again that that there is a problem with the management of human settlements across the length and breadth of the nation. According to the Local Government Act, 2016 (936) under the Functions of District Assemblies, subsection 3 (f)the law mandates: “without limiting subsections (1) and (2), a District Assembly shall  be responsible for the development, improvement and management of human settlements and the environment in the district”.

It is important to note that the achievement of the SDG Six and its accompanied targets must be tackled from the grassroot level. It also means that empowerment of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) is critical to the achievement of this goal.

Wastewater and toilets are crucial to our health. If Jack Sim was moved by the fact that the issue on toilets was neglected and shrouded in total embarrassment  what stops a nation whose President is co-chair to the Sustainable Development Goals, from achieving Goal six and its third target of improving water quality and subsequently the reuse of wastewater.

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ByL Alex Blege

The writer is a freelance journalist. [email protected]/[email protected]

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