Eight communities in Upper Manya Krobo attain open defecation free status
Eight communities in the Upper Manya Krobo District in the Eastern Region have attained Open Defecation Free (ODF) status.
The communities are Kumakuma, Takorase, Korliete, Sekesua Djamam, Sudakor, Osonson, Odekyerease and Kwabia-Asasehene.
That was made possible after Plan Ghana, a child centered development organisation, used three years of hard work to promote behaviour change and good sanitation and hygiene practices among the people.
The success story was told at a durbar of chiefs and people of the eight communities to celebrate the achievement at Sekesua Djamam in the Upper Manya Krobo District.
Mr Adu Inkumsah, Eastern Regional Director for Environmental Health, said the eight were part of 32 communities in the region which had attained ODF.
He however expressed worry that the 32 formed just a little over one percent of the total number of communities in the region.
Mr Inkumsah appealed to other communities to stop open defecation in their areas.
Mr George Amuzu, Regional Manager for Rural Water and Sanitation Services, urged the Municipal and District Assemblies not to relent in their efforts to fight poor sanitation to achieve the Millennium Development Goal.
Mr Mashud Fadlu Rahman, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Specialist for Plan Ghana, reiterated the NGO’s commitment to empowering communities to reduce sanitation related diseases that contribute to child mortality.
He said open defecation was due to the absence of latrines, lack of knowledge of proper waste management and hygiene as well as people’s inability to change their behaviour and attitude.
Mr Rahman urged the Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) to ensure that they support all decentralized departments under their administration to deliver on their mandate to ensure good sanitation.
He also appealed to community members to change their attitude and behaviour and ensure that they did not defecate irresponsibly in their surroundings.
“Let us end open defecation in our communities for dignity and respect for all,” he said.
Mr Joseph Tetteh Angmor, District Chief Executive for Upper Manya Krobo, in a speech read on his behalf, thanked Plan Ghana for its consistent assistance in improving sanitation and education in the area that the assembly would refuse to approve any building plan which had no toilet facility in it.
Source: GNA