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Mahama promises to end open defecation in second term
He made the commitment when he inaugurated the Lavender Hill faecal treatment plant in Accra.
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“In my manifesto for the 2016 election, I have made a definite commitment to end open defecation by year 2021. Over the next four years we are going to implement an aggressive programme to provide all Ghanaians with decent toilet facilities,” he said.
“We also are commissioning the Adjen Kotoko plant which is built near the Accra Compost plant and that also receives between 60 and hundred trucks every day," president Mahama said.
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"So with the capacity of this plant the Kotoku plant and the rehabilitation of the Mudol, we have enough capacity to take all the faecal waste produced in the Greater Accra Metropolitan area, treat it and make it safe for the environment,” he added.
The new plant has the capacity to treat 2000 cubic meters of liquid waste from 200 cesspit emptiers, daily.
Ghana in 2015 was ranked second after Sudan in Africa for open defecation, with five million Ghanaians not having access to any toilet facility.
And According to UNICEF, One in five Ghanaians have no access to a toilet and defecate in the open, with open defecation rates over 70% in Northern Ghana, reflecting significant national inequalities.
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Poor sanitation issues have cost the country $79million a year and also posed the greatest danger to human health, particularly for the most vulnerable, including young children, David Duncan, Chief Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Officer at UNICEF said.
The Upper East Region has the highest open defecation rate with 89 percent, followed by Northern Region with 72 percent and Upper West Region with 71 percent.
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