Some public places of convenience within the Ashiedu Keteke sub-metro of the Central Business District (CBD) of Accra are in deplorable states, thereby posing danger to both public health and lives of residents who depend solely on the facilities to attend to the call of nature. The facilities, located at James Town, Korle Woko and Ayalolo and constructed more than 50 years ago, have become more of death traps than places of convenience. Some of the residents have consequently appealed to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to replace the facilities before a tragedy occurred. The sorry state of these facilities has rather increased the "free ranging" syndrome along the James Town beaches at Ga Mashie by some of the residents, ostensibly because of the stench and the inconveniences they had to endure before they could attend to the call of nature. Ashiedu Keteke is a densely populated sub-metro, and according to the last 2000 Population Census, there are 88,717 people living in the area, with a floating population of about 200,000 daily from other parts of the metropolis and the country. The Makola Market, which holds sway commercial activities in the entire Accra metropolis, is located within this area. These facilities are very important, especially for women, since most homes do not have individual places of convenience. For some of the residents who spoke to the Daily Graphic, they were compelled to use the facilities because there was no alternative. When contacted to comment on their concerns, the Sub-metro Director of. Ashiedu Keteke, Mr Maxwell Gyima, said when he took over in May this year, he took a tour to various places, including those places of convenience and realised that they needed to be pulled down and a modern one constructed. Describing the facilities as a nuisance and, indeed, an eyesore, Mr Gyimah said discussions were held with some private developers to pull down all the old facilities before constructing new ones. "I am also very worried over the bad state of these facilities, but as it were, we can only replace them gradually," he said. He, however, assured the residents that the sub-metro was seeking for financial support to replace all the facilities by the middle of next year. Construction work to replace some of the facilities has already begun, he said, and explained that an ongoing project to replace the one at Ayalolo had already been roofed and would soon be open to the public. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana