https://www.myjoyonline.com/health-alert-adina-residents-wallow-in-insanitary-condition/-------https://www.myjoyonline.com/health-alert-adina-residents-wallow-in-insanitary-condition/

The lack of waste disposal facilities and a place of convenience at Adina community is posing a serious sanitation problem to residents there.

The condition has compelled some residents to practise open defecation. The residents have also found their own genius way of disposing off their solid waste.

Adina is a fishing community located in the Ketu South Municipality in the Volta region. It is a community that has been encroached upon by the sea: a portion of land has been consumed by the sea and lagoon.

In an attempt to reclaim the land taken over by the lagoon, residents of Adina dump rubbish into the lagoon and subsequently cover it with sand.

One resident asserted, “The entire compound was filled with rubbish and covered with sand before we could sit around. It is our way of protecting our properties from the effects of the tidal waves."

Residents complained that the area get flooded easily when it rains and device using rubbish as landfill. However, they claim to burn the rubbish they used to fill their flooded lands when the floods dry in an attempt to prevent the outbreak of diseases.

This practice, however, is insanitary. They bear the effects of their practice in so many ways. “Mosquitoes disturb us and sometimes we have to sit under mosquito nets to eat,” a resident said.

According to a citizen journalist, Blackmore Ayivor, the community needs a waste disposal facility to avert possible outbreak of diseases, “Adina seriously needs a rubbish dumping site, otherwise I am afraid there could be an outbreak of any disease at any time; in case it rains, the stench will fill all the houses around and this is not good for the community.”

One resident admitted that they do get affected by their waste disposal practice. "Obviously we record a lot of illnesses. All kinds of insects and flies come into the community."

Asked if they had any waste disposal vehicles, one of the residents responded, "No, we don’t have anything like that. It is only the school which has a push truck.”

Even though, the local L/A Primary School has a refuse dump at its back yard, as way of warding off the devastating effect of the lagoon, it has also turned its compound into a landfill site.

The Adina community cannot boast of a functioning place of convenience. The community has two public places of convenience. One of the toilets was built in 1966, even though it has been closed down people still attend to nature’s call there.  The other overflowing public toilet is inconveniently placed at the doorstep of the only primary school in the community.

Even the school’s own toilet, the headmaster admits, is full. Nevertheless, pupils and residents continue to use the facility despite the health implication.

According to the headmaster of the school, “The district assembly is responsible for emptying the cesspit. The most dangerous aspect of this is the school children still use this facility even though it is full.”

Other residents who do not use the two facilities resort to open defecation on the beach and in the bushes. A resident said "I go deep into the bush whenever the need arises, because there is no public toilet in Adina.”

The issue is compounded by the admission of the residents of Adina that they do not know who their Assembly man is.

They are calling on the government or the appropriate authority to completely pull down old toilet facilities and build a new one for them. They also want refuse containers so that they can properly dispose off their solid waste.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.



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