AMA launches handbook on safe public toilets management

A handbook: “A Guide to Safe Management for Public Toilets in Accra” has been launched to ensure that toilet owners and managers provide residents with decent sanitation facilities.

The book, authored by Mrs Florence S. Kuukyi, Director, Metro Public Health Department of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) would offer a framework to guide the management of public toilets to the acceptable standard.

It would also serve as a guide to meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard of public toilets management, while providing the AMA with appropriate template and standards for the regulation and monitoring of all public toilets within the metropolis.

Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive in a speech said the lack of training for managers of sanitation facilities and the inadequate rules guiding them poses public health risks to residents.

“Major challenges affecting basic sanitation delivery over the years include; planning and coordination of programmes aimed at improving sanitation and this is due to limited staffing, inadequate resources and poor capacity,” he said.

Mr Sowah said the publication by the Public Health Department of the AMA was timely to complement the effort of the GAMA Sanitation and Water Project funded by the World Bank and the Government of Ghana, especially in the wake of the proliferation of public toilets established by the Assembly and private individuals.

“Sanitation is a social and public good hence this guide to safe management of public toilets would enhance the work of managers of these facilities,” he said.

The book has five chapters, which cover design and environmental management system, amenities and materials, cleanliness, safety, and legal frame on public toilets.