The BPA completed and handed over the 20-seater toilet facility, alongside the mechanised borehole to the community to serve its 1,200 residents and by so doing, help put an end to the practice of open defecation.

The community had long been in dire need of improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities and had taken to the practice of open defecation, while other residents utilised the only toilet facility available to schoolchildren, thus posing a health risk.

The Assemblyman for the area, Amable Agbesi, said the only borehole in the area was not fit for purpose due to its high briny nature.

A 10-minute walk to the only water source in the community also revealed a stagnated creek sheltered away in a marshy area.

Mr Agbesi told the Daily Graphic that the water was also shared with animals.

The Chief Executive Officer of the BPA, Samuel Kofi Ahiave Dzamesi, said Tsiaveme’s sanitation challenge was brought to his attention by an indigene and following subsequent assessment, he recognised the urgent need to improve sanitation in the community.

In view of that, the BPA constructed a modern toilet facility and mechanised borehole as its corporate social responsibility to provide a safe and hygienic environment for its residents.

In a brief address at the ceremony last Friday, Mr Dzamesi said, “This project is significant to the authority, in the sense that this facility will address the Sustainable Developmental Goal (SDG) 6, which is to ensure sanitation and water for all, as well as the challenges of open defecation and inadequate sanitation facilities in the community.”

Facility

The six-month project executed by Azigizar Construction Ltd at a cost of GH¢650,000, is divided into two halves designated for male and female users featuring disability friendly facilities.

At the sidelines of a brief ceremony to inaugurate the project, Mr Dzamesi told the Daily Graphic that the BPA had keen interest in developing Bui Power along the coast of Anloga and its environs and also cited the ongoing establishment of a Centre of Excellence at Alavanyo in the Hohoe Municipality to cater for the training of engineers in the country, while the authority also sets its eyes on the potentials of generating 3-4 Megawatts of hydropower from the Wli Waterfalls.

Open Defecation

The Municipal Environmental Health Officer, Cephas Horsu, said the inauguration of the new facility meant that the Tsiaveme community could now bid farewell to the practice of open defecation.

He indicated that his outfit would embark on vigorous awareness creation to ensure the judicious use and management of the new facility to promote good hygiene practices and also safeguard the health of the community's residents.

Mr Horsu, however, said the community still lacked proper hygienic options for solid waste management and therefore appealed for community refuse bins to ensure that residents enjoyed healthier lives, while their surrounding environment was protected from contamination.