The Chief of Anyimadukrom, Nana Takyi Mensah, a community in the Obuasi East District of the Ashanti Region has commended AngloGold Ashanti's sanitation improve program targeted at solving the sanitation needs of the people in its operational area.

Speaking at a short ceremony to handover a 20-seater washroom facility constructed by AngloGold Ashanti to the community, Nana Takyi Mensah said the facility will go a long way to resolve the sanitation challenges bedeviling the people in the community and the Padmore school.

It is estimated that only 59.3 percent households in Ghana have their own toilets, 23 percent of them use public toilets and 17.7 per cent have no access to a toilet facility, which means that they resort to open defecation with all its health and other hazards.

To mitigate the impact of open defecation and reduce the adverse effects of lack of proper sanitation in Obuasi, AngloGold Ashanti through its 10-year Socio-Economic Development Plan has lined up programs and projects which will address the sanitation needs of the people.

According to the Senior Manager Sustainability of AngloGold Ashanti, Emmanuel Baidoo, the modern washroom facility constructed at the cost of GH630,000 was a response to the needs of the people.

He said: "We discovered a dire need for public convenience during the needs assessment for the SEDP so we collaborated with the Assembly to invest in this project".

He was optimistic that the project will undoubtedly improve the sanitation needs of the people in the community and the Padmore school saying the site for the construction of the project was strategically done to serve both the pupils in the school as well as the Anyimadukrom community.

He seized the opportunity to talk about the sanitation programs lined up by AngloGold Ashanti which include construction of boreholes and the Keep Obuasi Clean campaign which the company has rolled out in collaboration with AngloGold Ashanti Malaria Control, the Obuasi East District Assembly and the Obuasi Municipal Assembly.

He implored the chiefs and leaders of the community to maintain the facility by putting in place a Water and Sanitation committee who will be in charge of management and maintenance of the washroom on behalf of the community.

Yakubu Lamin, the assembly member lauded AngloGold Ashanti for prioritising the sanitation needs of the people in the community. He revealed that the company few years ago also built a mechanised borehole for the community, all in their quest to improve sanitation in the area.

The project was constructed by X-Mell construction limited, an Obuasi based construction firm.