Some final year students of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology have designed an automated payment system for public toilet facilities.

This is targeted at helping reduce the mismanagement of funds generated by these facilities.

Public places of convenience are often unattractive due to the poor sanitary environment. This has resulted in many resorting to open defecation, further affecting sanitation.

Mismanagement of resources is fingered as the principal cause.

“This system is specially designed to deal with the human element in fee collection for places of convenience”, Stephen Frimpong is the leader of TechDevisal, developers of the system.

The automated payment system consists of the coin receiver, which is programmed to take an amount of 50 pesewas, a hidden safe, a computer monitor and a lock.

When the coin is inserted, the system automatically opens for the client. An attempt to help another person enter without paying activates an alarm system to draw attention.

A box locked by administrators of the facility, collects the money, whiles a computer linked to the system takes data of number of entry and amount gathered.

“The system is designed in a manner that the administrator keeps track of every visit and amount collected is calculated accurately. If there are people picking coins from the safe, the data will expose them. There is no way anybody can delete the data from the system”, he added.

Two different exits are made for those leaving the facility. Alarm systems installed here help check the place for being used as entry.

‘There are cameras which actually captures people who hold the doors for others to enter. Immediately the alarm beeps, the cameras are activated and captures those perpetrating the act”, Mr. Frimpong said.

The Ejisu Constituency is first to adopt the modern technology and the Achiawkrom Public Toilet being the second.

The first in two months generated over twelve thousand cedis, an amount more than twice the previous system could rake in.

The office of the Member of Parliament through a public private partnership hopes to build thirty toilet facilities across the Constituency with the technology being a key feature.

“If you look at the technology application and innovation, we believe that it will be able to sustain the quality of the toilet for a long time”, John Ampontuah Kumah is MP for Ejisu.

Maximising profit for effective functioning of the facility is key to achieving high sanitation in the Constituency.