The Akuapem North Municipal Assembly has asked residents to take pictures of persons engaged in open defecation and other sanitation breaches for financial reward.

According to the assembly, suspects will be pursued and arrested for prosecution.

The move is part of radical measures by the Assembly to tackle challenges in four critical areas – Water, Education, Sanitation and Revenue mobilization.

The assembly has resolved to end open dumping, open defecation, littering, ensure one household -one toilet, construct new classroom blocks for dilapidated schools, improve BECE performance, reduce alarming rate of diarrhea, typhoid by providing portable water supply to every community in the area.

These resolutions were made at the Maiden Round table discussions dubbed WES -R initiated by the Akuapem North Municipal Assembly and attended by stakeholders.

“Certainly if you see someone defecating in the open, take a picture of that person and bring it to the office, we will go and look for the person and take action,” the municipal engineer Daniel Ohene Adu told Starr News’ Kojo Ansah.

The MCE for the area, Dennis Aboagye noted with strong support and commitment by stakeholders, their objectives will be achieved.

“As an assembly, we believe with the commitment made by our major stakeholders who have signed MOU with us, we are hopeful all these targets would be achieved. We are not going to rest at all, we are going to work extra had to transform the Municipality. Next year, we will meet to review our performance on the targets set in these four thematic areas”.

Meanwhile, as part of efforts to fight open defecation, government says it will be providing one million toilet facilities across the country.

An estimated 1.1 billion people in developing countries, including Ghana, resort to open defecation and UNICEF’s Country Director of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, David Duncan predicted that it will take Ghana 500 years to end open defecation.

“In 15 years, between now and 2030, we need to support over five million Ghanaians to stop defecating in the open, but currently it looks like it will take 500 years unless we make changes now,” said Mr. Duncan whilst speaking at a two-day capacity building programme for the parliamentary press corps organised by UNICEF.

The menace is causing the country about $79 million per year, disclosed the Chief Director of the Northern Regional Coordinating Council, Issahaku Alhassan at a ceremony earlier this year to launch the Open Defecation League Table.