Ghana is working towards phasing-out pan latrines as part of measures to tackle perennial sanitation related epidemics such as cholera. Under a new policy to that effect, about 90 per cent of all households in the country are to be made to have access to decent toilet facilities. Government is additionally considering proposals that would lead to the provision of community toilets of acceptable standards to transient populations. This is part of an integrated approach towards ensuring that 10 per cent of the nation's population have access to hygienic public toilets. These are part of proposals being deliberated upon at a consultative workshop underway at Koforidua as part of the process towards revising the National Environmental Sanitation Policy. The workshop was the third in a series that seeks to collate views and best practices on how to reposition the nation's sanitation policy to reflect environmental sanitation needs and challenges of the country. Participants from the Eastern, Volta, Central and Greater Accra regions are attending. Experts from the University of Cape Coast, the Ghana Health Service among others are teaming up with District Chief Executives and officials of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment on how to align the nation's sanitation process in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Ms Suzzy Mensah, urged the participants to take advantage of the workshop to find durable solutions to the sanitation problems facing the country. She welcomed proposals in the document that seek to develop a systematic approach and framework for identifying and harnessing resources in pushing the economy forward. Ms Mensah said Ghana's aspiration of becoming a middle-income earning country requires a clear strategy to overcome its shortcomings. Eastern Regional Environmental Health Officer, Mr F.K. Quist, called for the establishment of sanitation courts in the district to help arrest the falling sanitation situation in the country. Source: GNA