Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited has opened a 12-seater “biofil” lavatory facility at the St. Maurice R/C JHS in La, Accra.

Until now, the St. Maurice R/C JHS used a 45 year old depleted restroom facility which served both the staff and community, and this posed as a health and safety hazard to the school’s populace.

The newly built GH¢45,000 12-seater biofil donated by Fidelity Bank will replace the worn-out facility and significantly improve the health and sanitation of the school.

The gesture forms part of the bank’s initiative to help improve sanitation in Ghana as part of its corporate social responsibility being a leading indigenous financial institution.

Deputy Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, Jim Baiden expressed the bank’s commitment to continue supporting needy communities in Ghana.

“Sanitation issues are of paramount concern to Fidelity Bank and everybody in this country. We consider it our corporate social responsibility to help the nation’s development agenda by helping to provide public facilities to improve the lives of Ghanaians.”

Explaining how the project came about, Mr. Baiden said this project started through an agreement with the Government of Ghana to provide modern toilet facilities under the Sanitation Business Model One Programme.

He noted that over 86percent of Ghanaians do not have access to improved sanitation while over 3,000 Ghanaian children die annually as a result of poor water and sanitation.

“These figures demonstrate the terrible state of sanitation in this country and are a call to action to those who have the capacity to make a difference.”

He encouraged institutions and companies to rise up and help contribute to the improvement of the country’s sanitation.

Nii Lante Vanderpuye, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, said: “Access to improved sanitation is significantly lower in Ghana as compared to access to water. In Accra, close to about 45percent of people engage in open defecation leading to the higher incidence of cholera and other diseases,” he said.

Mr. Vanderpuye said it is therefore the priority of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to make access to sanitation prime on its agenda.

“We hope that the commissioning of this facility will be an indication that as a people we are refocusing our attention to providing access to sanitation and hygiene”.

He thanked Fidelity Bank for their commitment and immense support to improve sanitation in Ghana.

Fidelity Bank is the largest privately owned Ghanaian Bank in Ghana. Over a period of eight years, the reigning CIMG Bank of the year has become the sixth largest Bank in Ghana in terms of business size.