Ghana At 53 With Public Toilets.

It beats my imagination that Ghana at 53years is comfortable with the use of public toilets. After moving from the open pit system in the early 40s to the Kumasi Ventilated Improved Pits (KVIPs) in the early 70s, one would have expected that if Ghana were moving very slowly but surely, the KVIP system too should have been phased out by now, to be replaced by public operated Water Closet facilities. This is not to say that there are no public operated Water Closet facilities or private operated facilities available for public use. But that the continuous promotion of KVIPs has outlived its usefulness.

In the 21st century, the state of Ghana is forgiven her debts by benevolent and charitable organizations both bilateral and multilateral. Ghana government is expected to draw plans for disbursement and use of the forgiven funds. And guess what, some of those funds are used to construct public KVIPs.

The argument may be put forward that the KVIPs are the best alternative for us. But my beef really is this: who patronizes these facilities? Right from Teshie-Nungua to Ashaiman and to several other suburbs in the nation’s capital, people prefer the open defecation system a.k.a free range to the services of the Public toilets. The reasons are not very hard to find as to why people refuse to use them. They are very dirty, stinky and an eyesore to besiege. With all apologies to my Islamic brethren, they also go there with their "Buutas" making the appearance of the place look more like a public bath house than a public place of convenience. Sometimes, the fact that attendants to the facility are reluctant to clean the place makes the cubicles overcrowded with maggots.

The story was once told of an asthmatic patient who went to use one of the public places of convenience and unfortunately had an attack in there. But for the timely intervention of some good Samaritans, she would have lost her life just like that. Apparently, her doctor glossed over the stench of fecal matter in his litany of allergies to which his patient was to avoid, simply because in his assumption, the decent lady was too big to use a public toilet.

May I therefore use this medium to suggest to the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to ensure that bye-laws and regulations requiring that all residential facilities be fitted with places of convenience are complied with. This humble appeal also goes to all other decentralized agencies whose duty it is to ensure that landlords comply with the necessary bye-laws on the provision domestic toilets do so. It is only when this is done can the need for public places of convenience disappear.

But let me conclude by urging and pleading with the authorities and any power(s) that may be by March 6th 2011 to make the public toilets a thing of the past by that time. NTSIRI REJOICE. GHANA INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISM.