About 90% of households in the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipality in the Ashanti Region have access to household toilet facilities, with the Municipal Assembly intensifying efforts to ensure that the remaining households construct their own toilets to help end open defecation.
The Municipal Environmental Officer, Mr Prosper Argum, disclosed that nearly 2,150 household toilets were constructed across the municipality between 2023 and 2024 under the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA) project.
According to him, the facilities constructed under the project were purely bio-digester toilet systems, which he said had contributed significantly to improving sanitation and reducing the practice of open defecation in communities within the municipality.
Mr Argum explained that although the municipality had made considerable progress, a small proportion of households still did not have toilet facilities.
He attributed the situation to a number of factors, including inadequate space for construction, financial difficulties and, in some cases, negative attitudes towards household sanitation.
Institutional toilet facilities.
Mr Argum further disclosed that with support from Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), the Assembly had constructed seven institutional toilet facilities in selected schools across the municipality.
He said each of the facilities had a 14-seater capacity and was equipped with mechanised boreholes to provide water and support proper hygiene and maintenance.
The beneficiary institutions, he noted, included Toase R/C School, Experimental School at Nkawie, Kuffour Cluster of Schools at Nkawie, Nerebehin R/C School, Sepaase M/A School, Manhyia M/A School and the Abuakwa Division.
He said the provision of the facilities was aimed at improving sanitation in schools, protecting children from sanitation-related diseases and creating a safer and healthier learning environment.
Six-month ultimatum.
Mr Argum disclosed that the Assembly had issued a six-month moratorium to households without toilet facilities to use the grace period to construct their own toilets.
He cautioned that households that failed to comply with the directive after the expiration of the six-month period could be taken to court.
He explained that the directive formed part of the Assembly’s broader strategy to eliminate open defecation and ensure that every household had access to decent sanitation facilities.
“The Assembly has given a grace period of six months for households without toilets to construct them. Those who fail to comply after the period will face the necessary legal action,” he stated.
Training of local artisans.
As part of measures to address the financial challenges associated with toilet construction, Mr Argum said the Assembly, with support from WSUP, had trained 35 local artisans in bio-digester toilet technology.
He said the training was intended to create a pool of skilled local artisans who could provide affordable and quality toilet construction services to households within the municipality.
The initiative, he explained, was being implemented under a market-based sanitation approach, where households could pay affordable amounts towards the construction of their toilet facilities instead of having to bear the entire financial burden at once.
According to him, the approach would make it easier for low-income households to acquire toilet facilities while also creating employment opportunities for trained artisans.
SDG 6.
Mr Argum stressed that the municipality’s sanitation drive was also in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Six (SDG 6), which seeks to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
He said the goal required concerted efforts by government, local authorities, development partners, traditional leaders, communities and individual households to achieve universal access to clean water and adequate sanitation.
He therefore urged households that did not have toilet facilities to take advantage of the six-month grace period and construct them before the Assembly began enforcement measures.
M-CODE working visit.
Mr Argum made the disclosure when the Media Coalition Against Open Defecation (M-CODE), with support from World Vision Ghana, paid a working visit to the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipal Assembly to assess the level of sanitation and the progress being made towards ending open defecation in the municipality.
The visit formed part of efforts by the media coalition to engage local authorities, assess sanitation conditions and highlight challenges confronting communities in their quest to achieve improved sanitation.
The team interacted with officials of the Assembly on interventions undertaken so far, challenges facing households without toilets and measures being adopted to improve access to household and institutional sanitation facilities.
The coalition was also briefed on the Assembly’s collaboration with development partners, particularly WSUP, in promoting bio-digester technology and supporting households and institutions to acquire improved toilet facilities.
Sustaining the gains.
The Municipal Environmental Officer called for sustained collaboration between the Assembly, development partners, the media and residents to consolidate the gains made in sanitation.
He noted that while the construction of thousands of toilets had significantly improved the municipality’s sanitation situation, achieving an open-defecation-free environment would require behavioural change and commitment from residents.
He appealed to households that were yet to construct toilets to make sanitation a priority, stressing that access to a household toilet was not only a matter of convenience but also an important public health requirement.
He further encouraged residents to maintain their toilet facilities properly and adopt good sanitation and hygiene practices to protect themselves and their communities from diseases.
The progress recorded in Atwima Nwabiagya South, he said, demonstrated that partnerships between local government authorities, development organisations, the media and communities could produce significant results in the fight against open defecation.
The Assembly, he added, would continue to monitor sanitation conditions across the municipality and enforce relevant regulations where necessary to ensure that the gains achieved were sustained.
