TANO SOUTH DISTRICT OBSERVES WORLD TOILET DAY AT BECHEM

A mini durbar to celebrate World Toilet Day with the theme ‘’Access to toilet, Health and Nutrition’’ has taken place at Bechem, the Tano South District Capital.

In a welcome address to mark the day, the Tano South District Environmental Health Officer, Mr. Adom Cudjoe elaborated the importance of constructing toilet facilities in our home and said it is an obligatory for each household to have a toilet facility. He said open defecation pollutes the environment and eventually brings about diseases such as cholera and others.

He said the District Assembly would not entertain landlords who fail to include toilet facilities in their building plans and would also arrest and prosecute those who include them but fail to implement when putting up the fiscal structure.

Mr. cudjoe said though the Assembly has been able to put up many public toilets but it is not enough to meet the demands of the populace.

The Tano South District Director of Health Service, Dr. Peter Asare in a speech said, thirty-two (32) cholera cases out of which two (2) death were recorded in the Tano South District and said his outfit has embarked on a vigorous education campaign to educate the public on the causes, effects and symptoms of the disease and said the disease is brought about by human activities.

Dr. Asare said, the government through the Tano South District Assembly has been able to construct many health facilities in the district and urged all stakeholders to pay regular visit to the centres for medical check- up and advised all to register with the National Health Insurance Authority to enable them access medical care free of charge.

In his address, the Tano South District Chief Executive, Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba said, sanitation is relevant to national development and for that matter, the Assembly has been able to construct 25 public toilet district wide to serve over 83,000 people but stressed that it is not enough to meet the demands of the people. He said the Assembly’s building Plan Law section 15 (86) mandates every landlord to provide a toilet facility in his building but it came to light that many houses were without toilet facilities when the Town and Country Planning Department embarked on the street naming and property Addressing System exercise in the District and advised landlords not to turn toilet and bathrooms into sleeping rooms.

Hon. Anaba said, World toilet Day as introduced by the United Nations and ably been implemented by the Ministry of Local Government and rural Development, will go a long way to educate the masses on the need for proper toilet facilities in our homes and also commended the Bechem Water and Sanitation Management Team for their role in ensuring that proper toilet facilities are obtained in the Township.

Hon. Anaba said, a survey on the District League Table placed the Tano South District first due to the diligent role the Assembly played on certain factors which needed to be addressed including health, sanitation, education and said his doors are opened to all and sundry who propose to construct toilet facilities in their houses.

The Chairman for the occasion, Nana Opoku Agyemang, who stood in for the Omanhene of Bechem Traditional Area, Nana Fosu Gyeabour II, said the Bechem Traditional Council will cooperate with the Tano South District Assembly to ensure that all new buildings under construction in the Traditional Area are provided with toilet facilities.