The 2013 World Toilet Day has been commemorated in Accra with a call on the people to adopt positive attitudes towards proper sanitation in the country. The Day which was graced by participants from Government, Sanitation and Health Experts, academia, traditional rulers , the clergy as well as the media, was held under the theme: ‘’Open Defecation Free Ghana in My Lifetime’’. In his remarks, Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development [MLGRD] Hon. Alhaji Baba Jamal said the celebration offers the people the platform to advocate and create the needed awareness on the importance of improved sanitation to the public health and socio economic development of Ghana.
Hon. Baba Jamal added that the World Toilet Day commemoration affords Ghanaians the need to ensure safe disposal of human excreta through the use of improved household toilets and the avoidance of open defecation.
He described the theme chosen for the celebration in Ghana as not only appropriate but timely as the country is only two years away towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals [MDG] target on sanitation. He bemoans ‘’ Ghana is likely to miss the MDG target on sanitation and hence the urgent need to double our effort towards the 2015 finish line for countries to meet their targets’’.
He disclosed that His Ministry with the support of Development Partners and other stakeholders has put in place the required institutional, policy and legal frameworks to address what he describes as a developmental setback. He mentioned that the Ministry as part of its interventions has started building the capacities of District Assemblies, particularly the Environmental, Health and Sanitation Directorate[EHSD] of the Ministry and Sanitation Departments with the required logistics and resources to properly position them to facilitate the implementation of sanitation programs across Ghana.
The Deputy Minister went ahead to state Government recognizes that improved sanitation is critical to the achievement and sustenance of all the social interventions been implemented to ensure national development.
He indicated that in moving sanitation agenda to another pedestal, they have adopted the Community Led Total Sanitation [CLTS] program which has already been implemented in five regions. The program which was recently scaled up to include the Eastern and Brong Ahafo Regions will soon be implemented in all the ten regions to ensure the required impact of the program is impacted nationwide. He called on the people not to live sanitation issues only to the Government adding the Government alone cannot address the nation’s sanitation challenges without the collective efforts of all the people. ‘’ it must therefore be seen as a collective responsibility and all hands must be on deck to ensure descent working and living environmental for sustainable development’’.
He attributed indiscipline and poor attitudes as key factors that greatly hamper the country’s efforts at ridding the communities of filth.
Hon. Baba Jamal commended the media for its immense contribution in the sanitation sector through public education and awareness creation and appealed for their continuous support.
