We will build more toilets to fight open defecation – Catherine Afeku

Minister of Tourism and Creative Arts, Catherine Afeku has stressed that the most practical way for the country to win the fight against open defecation is to build more toilets and make it accessible for people to patronize it.

According to her, Ghana’ s pervasive and worrying open defecation challenge is not because of lack of toilet facilities but rather one of inadequate toilet facilities for the masses.

“We want to assume that the toilets are not enough but we will build more and hire people from the communities to keep it clean” she stated.

This week Ghana’s troubling open defecation problem was laid bare when a report by Joy News’ Jojo Cobbinah revealed that there is a rampant open defecation behind the Cape Coast Castle and tourists who throng the site were shocked and have vowed never to visit the site nor swim in the sea again.

This situation Madam Afeku believes is a major setback and it is killing the tourism industry in the country.

She, however, stated that the ministry will not sit for some miscreants in the society to denigrate the tourist sites.

Speaking at a press briefing, Madam Catherine Afeku pointed out that her outfit together with some stakeholders within the tourism industry have deliberated on the issues and there are some measures they will be taking to help in the open defecation fight.

Highlighting on some of the measures the ministry will undertake, Madam Afeku stated that the Tourism ministry together with the Sanitation ministry will form an inter-ministerial committee which will lead the crusade against open defecation.

Regional Ministers, as well as Metropolitan Municipal District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) in the coastal regions (Western, Central, Greater Accra and Volta Regions), will be tasked to be part of The Inter-Ministerial Committee to lead fight against open defecation in their regions and districts.

Also, some celebrities who are tourism ambassadors will be part of the campaign against open defecation at the tourist sites immediately.

“It is an attitudinal problem and we need to fight it to the level that the celebrities will be the mouthpiece, use the media to help go into the communities to help in sensitization and capacity building,” she said.

She, however, urged the media to partner the ministry to win the fight against open defecation.

“Ghana beyond aid cannot see people openly defecating” she stressed.