As part of efforts to end open defecation in the country, 1049 bio-digester sanitation facilities have been built in the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area.

The facilities were constructed from November 2021 to March 2022 at eight municipal and metropolitan assemblies by the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources.

Ejisu municipal assembly benefited from 388 bio-digester toilet facilities, Oforikrom, Kwadaso, and Suame municipalities had 135, 131, and 113, respectively.

The rest includes Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, which benefited 88 facilities, Old Tafo Assembly 87, and Asokore Mampong Assembly received 61.

The Asokwa Municipal Assembly had 46, the smallest number of sanitary facilities constructed during the period.

According to Sanitation Engineering Specialist, Kwadwo Gyasi, 23 of the facilities were completed in November 2021 and 237 in December 2021. Some 391 facilities were built in Jan 2022, 295 in Feb, and 205 in Mar 2022.

The initiative is consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 6), which is “ensure access to water and sanitation for all by 2030.”

By 2030, Ghana should attain access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all. It is expected that open defecation will end with a focus on women and girls and people in vulnerable circumstances.

The Ministry of Sanitation is therefore working to improve access to toilets in low-income communities in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area (GKMA).

It is anticipated that more than 30,000 residential sanitary facilities will be built in the GKMA by 2030.

More than 180,000 people are expected to benefit from this project in the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area.

Some 28,000 domestic toilets have already been constructed in Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), and an additional 12,000 facilities are being constructed.