ACCRA, 16 September 2008 (IRIN) – On a hot afternoon at Jamestown beach, once considered to be one of Accra’s most famous beaches, 25-year-old Francis Cudjoe and his three friends squat in the open air while in conversation.
They are defecating in full view on the beach, and they are not alone. Off in the distance, one can spot many more residents dropping their pants, squatting and freeing their bowels.
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Ghana’s ranking as “the fourth most unsanitary country in Africa and the second dirtiest out of 15 West African countries [...] has rallied local environmental organisations to clamour for more radical governmental action on Ghana’s deteriorating sanitation record. {…] But some in the government dispute the figures, saying the problem has been overstated.
For the local Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), “the ranking should serve as a reality check for authorities who act as if all is well,” says Executive Secretary Patrick Apoya.
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Ghana’s Supreme Court banned the use of [pan] latrines in July 2008, saying they violated people’s dignity, and ordered city authorities to arrest and prosecute users.
The court also ordered the government to build public toilets across the capital and subsidise the construction of toilets in private homes, measures that have yet to be implemented, according to CONIWAS.
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Every year, the health ministry reports more than 400,000 out-patient cases of sanitation-related diseases, including diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera and hepatitis, which lead to about 65,000 deaths.
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{T]he national government has drafted what will be the country’s first national sanitation policy, which [is expected to] be approved by late 2008.
Alongside legislation, the national sanitation ministry plans to crack down on sanitation offenders. Working with the justice ministry, government officials plan to employ sanitation watchdogs [in all 138 metropolitan, municipal and districts assemblies] to punish people who defecate in public spaces, who litter, or who do not maintain sanitary conditions at home by fining or arresting them.
Source: IRIN, 16 Sep 2008
