VIDEO: Lack of toilet facilities, Tano Odumase residents resort to open defecation
VIDEO: Lack of toilet facilities, Tano Odumase residents resort to open defecation
A walk through Tano-Odumase Township in the Afigya Kwabre South District of the Ashanti Region saw a large number of households without toilet facilities.
Some children and adults were seen squatting in nearby bushes in the backyards of their homes as well as on refuse dumps attending to nature’s call. Surprisingly, this act is not being practised only in the night but in the full glare of everyone in the day time. The adults especially women never feel shy even when they see people approaching them.
A visit by Silver FM’s Akwadaa Nyame to both old and new site within Tano-Odumase community saw more than 150 houses not having toilet facilities.
During our visit, we saw two public toilets in the whole community but all of them are in a deplorable state.
Some have developed dangerous cracks with their manholes opened up, posing as death traps to users, whereas others were poorly kept. The stench emanating from the deplorable toilet facilities had also compelled some residents to resort to defecating in the bush exposing them to dangerous reptiles and other harmful health hazards.
Checks revealed that the old site toilet facility for instance were constructed 50 years ago but have not witnessed any renovation since its construction.
According to the Assembly member in the area, Hon Kwaku Ofori aka Amazing about 80 per cent of households in the Tano-Odumase Township practice open defecation because they do not have toilet facilities.
Aside from open defecation, the sanitation situation in the town is poor as polythene bags are littered around haphazardly. Refuse are also dumped at the premises of the various public toilets which had become a haven for open defecation, with various drainage systems choked with filth.
Some people in the town expressed fear about their health indicating that had been the situation for the past years.
A resident, Mr Gideon Amoako said open defecation was a normal practice because majority of them do not have latrines in their homes, saying “we defecate on the refuse dump and in the bush because most people don’t have any choice”.
He said the situation is very worrying in the rainy season as some residents have to defy the rains sometimes to do it outside when they are pressed.
Another resident, Madam Abena Agyeiwaa said: “I don’t have toilet in my house and the public toilets too are not in good shape so the only option is to ease myself in the bush so it is very worrying”.
The residents, therefore, appealed to the assembly to as a matter of urgency renovate the public toilets to alleviate their plight.
The impact of open defecation on the socio-economic development cannot be over-emphasized as health experts have confirmed that there is a direct correlation between open defecation and diseases such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera among others.
Silver FM’s Akwadaa Nyame report that, about 70 to 80 per cent of Out-Patient Department (OPD) cases in various health facilities in the town were sanitation-related cases, a situation which calls for urgent attention to improve on the sanitation situation.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which Ghana is a signatory to, goal 6 talks about ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. However, there is no doubt that the situation in the Tano-Odumase Township would one way or the other negatively affect Ghana’s quest to meet the SDGs.
Call the assembly of the electoral to follow up the story.
Hon Kwaku Ofori 0245054231
By: Akwadaa Nyame@silverfm
