One of the many reported cases of Cholera in Accra came from La Kaklamadu, where open defecation and disposal of solid waste into drains is a norm.

Speaking on JoyNews MultiTV’s ‘Clean Communities’ geared towards improving sanitation in communities, the Municipal Environmental Health Officer of La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, Mr. Victor Acquaye, attributed the sanitation problem in Kaklamadu to the structural congestion of the community and the behaviour of the residents.

He also blamed the practice of open defecation in the community on lack of household toilets.

However, Mr. Acquaye said measures are being put in place to ensure that every household has a toilet facility.

The Assembly is trying to undertake a sanitation market, where toilet contractors would display different technologies that can be used within close spaces, he announced. 

Residents will subsequently be given a grace period to provide toilets in their homes, adding that offenders would be dealt with in accordance of the law. 

He said the Assembly’s health officers are embarking on a house-to-house education to provide citizens with enough information about cholera. 

Mr. Acquaye prescribed how the Assembly will address the issue of attitudinal change among residents of Kaklamadu: “We realised that in order to achieve results we have to add action. Since they know that what they are doing is wrong but still do it, force has to be applied to make them stop.”

He also appealed to the Ghana Health Service to provide households with chlorine tablets to disinfect water they buy from water tankers because the La township do not get regular supply of pipe borne water.

He also pleaded with people who engage in open defecation to stop in order to minimize the spread of cholera.

He also asked that Environmental Health Departments should be alerted to disinfect areas contaminated by affected person since the virus can thrive in damp soil.

The Environmental Health Officer appealed to the Ghana Water Company to check pipes running through drains because dirty water can seep through any cracks and contaminate treated water.