BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE
Describing the findings of the survey as very surprising, he disclosed that in some areas such as Abossey Okai, Odawna area and Agbogbloshie among others, almost 90 per cent of the houses there did not have access to toilets.
Dr. Simpson Anim Boateng, Director, Metro Public Health Department,
Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), says access to improved toilets in the Accra
Metropolis has seen tremendous improvement over the last three years.
According to him, the progress made in access to toilets in Accra, is as
a result of a very aggressive exercise embarked upon by the city authority to
ensure every household has an approved toilet or latrine.
Dr. S. A. Boateng, who was speaking on the topic “Access to Toilets”
during the airing of the 9th edition of the Ghana Watsan Journalists
Network (GWJN) WASH Radio programme on Radio XYZ Sunday April 28, described the
situation in Accra as guided because three years ago only few people had access
to improved toilets when the Metro Public Health Department of the AMA
conducted a survey to know the exact number of households in Accra without
toilets.
Describing the findings of the survey as very surprising, he disclosed that in some areas such as Abossey Okai, Odawna area and Agbogbloshie among others, almost 90 per cent of the houses there did not have access to toilets.
“So the Assembly came out with a directive that every house in the city
should have its own toilet facility and landlords were given time to provide
these facilities in their home. So our environmental health officers went about
issuing notices and a lot of notices went to these houses without toilets. Now
as I speak I can say confidently that the situation which was so bad has now
normalised and some areas like Ayawaso West and Osu Klottey have close to 80
percent coverage,” he said.
On what informed an ultimatum given by the AMA
to landlords to provide toilets or face sanctions, Dr. Simpson Anim Boateng
said “The AMA realised there were a lot of recurrent disease outbreaks and it
was attributed to the lack of toilets in people’s homes and we needed to do
something. That is how come we reactivated the law which already existed.”
“In addition to this there were a lot of houses still using pan
latrines. In fact when we started the exercise three years ago, we had 5,080
houses in Accra using pan latrines,” Dr. Boateng disclosed.”
While admitting that at the onset when the exercise began the situation
as far as access to toilets is concerned was very bad, he indicated that after
the aggressive programme was began, the number of people in Accra without
access to toilets has reduced to 53percent, who can only be found at Old Fadama
popularly referred to as Sodom and Gomorrah.
“Surprisingly there are still a number of houses in the city without
toilets. It is in the light of this that we set up sanitation courts,” the
AMA’s director of Public Health stated, revealing that the sanitation courts
have done thousands of prosecutions since they were established in 2010 and
that is the main reason why people have rushed to provide toilets in their
homes.
Speaking to the issue of why there are houses in the city without
toilets, Dr. Simpson Boateng said permits are only given for the construction
of houses which make provision for toilets and that their survey showed houses
without toilets originally had toilets in them but had those toilets converted
into shops, offices and rooms, citing houses in Abossey Okai, a suburb of the
city which did not have toilets as example.
“For instance in the Abossey Okai area, every house which was without
toilet once had a toilet," he stated emphatically.
Explaining why the problem has existed over the
years, he admitted that though there are laws, people have been disregarding
the laws, while enforcement has been very weak.
Expressing optimism however, he said: “We are
now growing as a nation, so with time, people’s ideas are changing and the
realisation that everyone must provide these sanitary facilities is also
growing.”
“Before we thought it was no problem, but now
we are realising that it is a problem. The annual outbreak of cholera is an
indication that we have to do something about the sanitation situation in the
city. It will be very difficult to achieve zero per cent but then it is not an
impossibility. We will work gradually towards that,” he added.
According to the Director of Public Health in
Accra, interventions AMA has employed to arrest the situation apart from prosecution
of landlords, is education to change people’s outlook, as well as collaboration
with NGOs such as CHF International, which is providing improved toilet
facilities in certain areas in the city with very flexible terms.
Shedding more light on the collaboration with
non-governmental agencies, Dr. Simpson Boateng said beneficiaries provide a
percentage of the total cost, which is spread over a period to make it possible
for many people to be able to afford and be part of the scheme and the project
commences, disclosing that many residents of Ayideki at New Town, a suburb of
Accra, have benefited from the project.
“About three years ago, the AMA also embarked
on a similar exercise under a World Bank funded project to assist people build
their own improved toilets. What the project did was that it provided the
materials for the construction of the toilets and the landlord also provided
some amount of money, which was even spread over some time and it made it
possible for many people to benefit but
like many projects it came to an end,” he added.
On the way forward to deal with the lack of
access to toilets in Ghana and the city of Accra, the Accra Metro Public Health
Department head enjoined tenants to make sure that they rent rooms which have
toilet facilities, “because toilets is not something you compromise.”
He asked tenants in houses without toilet
facilities to first discuss the issue with their landlords and if they are
adamant report the matter to the Public Health Department of the AMA who will take
instant action.
He said although only water closets are
prescribed as improved toilets for the city of Accra, other improved latrines
like the KVIP may be acceptable if it is well kept without stench emanating
from it in peri-urban areas only.
“Fortunately now there are technologies which
do not require vast lands, which trained environmental health engineers of the
Assembly can assist landlords technically to construct, Dr. Boateng indicated
when responding to the lack of space which is advanced by many landlords as
reason for not constructing toilets.
WASH Radio, an advocacy programme dedicated to
issues on water, sanitation and hygiene, which airs on Accra-based radio
station Radio XYZ every Sunday from 7:00pm to 7:30pm, began on March 3, 2013
and is currently sponsored by WaterAid West Africa (WAWA) and the Water Supply
and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC).
It is produced by the Ghana Watsan Journalists
Network in collaboration with Radio XYZ.
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