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By Sambiru Duut Elijah, RNG
Nandom (UW), June 9, GNA – Dr. Ernest Naa
Sangsor-Tulong I, acting president of Nandom's traditional council,
commended the government for creating the Ministry of Sanitation to care for the poor
sanitation and provide adequate water throughout the country.
Over the years, sanitation, which was a
essential aspect of human life, was buried under the Ministry of Water, Works
and Housing and seems to have been denied the attention required to
improvement.
"But it took the visionary leadership of the
the current administration to detach it from the Ministry of Water, Public Works and Housing
and made it stand-alone as a ministry, said the chief.
He spoke to the chiefs and people of
Nandom district at the apex of the Open Defecation Free (ODF) district
on the theme: "Pushing for action for sustainable sanitation and
hygiene for all ".
The World Health Organization (WHO)
1971 and 1981 declared decade of water for the absolute supply of pure water in
Naa Sangsor-Tuleng said that previous governments have not yet
achieved.
"But the gesture of the current government was
A step in the right direction.
he
reports, which indicated that about 80% of the world's
developing countries were linked to water and sanitation.
However, he noted that he did not have any
the importance given to water and sanitation and that the government deserved
applauds and shakes hands.
Mrs Theresa Swanzy-Bafoe, SNV washing consultant,
According to a study conducted last year, one in five people in Ghana
open defecation practiced but Nandom has a different story to tell as they were
judged the first district of Ghana to achieve ODF status.
She told SNV's trip to Nandom
started in 2014 as part of the district-funded program called Sustainable
Sanitation and Hygiene for All, aimed at strengthening the capacity of
local authorities for the development and implementation of sanitation services at the regional level
delivery modules.
She named some activities adopted to combat
Open defecation to include community commitments, pro-poor government policies, advocacy
for behavioral change, adoption and enforcement of community regulations and
motivations.
Others have included community awareness
projects, strengthen collaboration and the sharing of ideas between communities,
rewards and celebration of selected communities and individuals.
She said that several mechanisms have been put in place
ensure increased access to sustainable use of sanitation by vulnerable groups
including the mobilization of stakeholders and community groups to encourage
appropriate interventions in hygiene and sanitation.
These allowed to maintain the gains
and people were motivated.
Swanzy-Bafoe appealed for
funding of sanitation programs, sharing of ideas between OD and ODF
communities, outreach missions, enforcement of community regulations and
other measures to enable the region as a whole and Ghana to achieve their ODF objective
by 2020.
District Chief Nandom, Mr.
Aasouglenang Thaddeus Arkum warned the 88 communities of Nandom District no
to fall back into the old ways, but rather to ensure that they always have
improved latrines, waste management practices, storage and treatment of water
as well as washing systems with water.
GNA
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