Correspondence from Bono East

Some Assembly Members in the Pru East District of the Bono East Region have bemoaned the spate of open defecation in the District.

The concerns of the Assembly Members stem from the fact that defecating in the open such as in fields, bushes, and along the Volta Lake has become a norm.

They contend that despite an agenda by the government to end open defecation around the country in line with Sustainable Development Goal 6, open defecation is rather on the rise in the District.

Blaming the absence of toilet facilities in the community for the practice, they indicated that residents have resorted to “free range toileting” and “take away” whenever they want to ease themselves.

They cited suburbs in the VRA, Konkoma, Kojo Boffour, and Jindinsa Electoral Areas as places where open defecation is rife, a situation that poses several environmental endemic health problems to the residents.

Ngyemeneko Philip, the Assembly Member for the Konkoma Electoral Area recounted that the situation has gotten out of hand as residents have no place of convenience.

“The only toilet here has collapsed so the residents have nowhere to use as a toilet so they defecate in the open which has dire health consequences for them”.

The Assembly Member for the VRA Electoral Area, Augustine Mahama, on his part decried the unwillingness of the political authority to deal with the situation.

“I have made several attempts to have the toilet issue resolved but the problem persists because of the little or no commitment on the part of authorities. As the Assembly Member for my area, I have done my part, but I always hit a snag when I go to the Assembly”.

Speaking on the development, the Pru East Environmental Officer, Thompson Lambon, appealed to the government to complete all the stalled Ghana First Toilet Projects in the District to curb the menace.

“We are not happy with the situation so we are appealing to the authorities to complete all the toilet projects that have been abandoned over the years to help bring the situation under control”.

Meanwhile, independent checks by GhanaWeb indicate that the construction of Ultra-modern toilet facilities that were started in the District by the Ghana First Company has been halted for over a year now with the contractor nowhere to be found.