Some fourteen thousand households in the Obuasi Municipal Assembly of the Ashanti Region are without toilet facilities.

This is according to the Municipal Chief Executive.

Elijah Adansi Bonah who made the revelation at a durbar to commemorate this year's World Toilet Day described the situation as worrying.

The municipal assembly has therefore set up a task force to deal with landlords with no toilet facilities in their households and persons that will engage in open defecation.

The move is to reduce the staggering numbers and address the practice of open defecation as a result of the situation.

Obuasi Municipal Environmental Health Officer, Fuseina Imoro, has meanwhile warned all landlords in the municipality to fix toilets in their homes before February 2022.

“From next year we will launch an operation to deal with landlords who have no toilets in their homes. We are leaving no stone unturned to achieve an Open Defecation Free in the Municipality in the next 3 to 4 years", she said.

The MCE acknowledged the devastating effects of open defecation on people’s health.

“…whiles it contaminates drinking water sources and food crops, it also serves as a source of oral-fecal infections like Cholera.”

World Toilet Day

World Toilet Day is an annual global event organized by the United Nations (UN) to raise awareness on the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation. 

The day also seeks to address the global sanitation crisis and achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: Water and Sanitation for all by 2030.

The Obuasi celebration was under the theme, 'Stop Open Defeacation; Own a household latrine now. Let's play our part in the Covid Era'.

The assembly commended the efforts of the Obuasi Rotary club for promoting and constructing household toilets in some rural communities in the Municipality. 

Mr Adansi Bonah appealed to Nananom, Assembly members, Zonal council members to come together to fight against open defecation.

He said the Assembly is working assiduously through the Municipal Environmental Health office to eliminate open defecation, improve access to basic sanitation services and promote hygienic attitudes among residents.

Covid-19 education

Mr Adansi Bonah also used the occasion to caution city dwellers against the Covid-19 pandemic and urged them to wash their hands frequently and wear masks always.

‘’Staying hygienic saves lives. Soap and water save lives’’.

Touching on the theme, Madam Fuseina said the coronavirus pandemic has taught mankind a 'difficult ' lesson to observe a clean environment. 

She said "Covid-19 is still with us so let us all adhere to the protocols and stay safe".