Government to work towards phasing out pan latrines

Koforidua, April 4, GNA - 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 on Tuesday 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.)
Opening the workshop 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.
04 April 07