The Bolgatanga Municipality in the Upper East Region has recorded a 27.7 percent rate of open defecation, topping all Districts and Municipalities in the Region.
The Upper East Region as a whole recorded a 50.1 percent rate of open defecation.
According to the Bolgatanga Municipal Environmental Health Officer, Mr. Evans Bornaa, who described the rate of open defecation in the Municipality as a serious issue, said he felt embarrassed at a workshop in Kumasi when the Municipality appeared to be the one in the region with the highest rate of open defecation.
He made this revelation in an interview with Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East show.
The Environmental Health Officer bemoaned that open defecation coupled with bad sanitation practices, including improper disposal of solid and liquid waste, were major concerns in the Municipality and must be avoided because of their dire implications.
He explained that such an attitudinal act poses a lot of health hazards and advised residents in the municipality to desist from the act or face the law squarely when caught.
He noted that there were people with functional toilet facilities in their homes who engaged in open defecation because of their interest in engaging in illicit activities.
To address this menace, Mr. Bornaa said plans were far advanced to arrest individuals engaged in open defecation at dawn and late at night, where the activity was said to be prevalent, to face the law.
He called on Assembly members in the Municipality to help intensify the fight against open defecation and poor sanitation practices to secure a safe environment worth living in.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Ghana
