Mr Albert Boakye Okyere,  Ashaiman Municipal Chief Executive, issued the ultimatum on Tuesday during the launch of the ‘Basic Sanitation Fund’ in Ashaiman.  Mr Okyere said, residents must take advantage of the Basic Sanitation Fund to get a household toilet within the stipulated period or be prosecuted in accordance with the Assembly’s byelaws on sanitation.

He indicated that in order to eradicate open defecation within the Municipality, it was important  that every household constructed a toilet facility for its residents. He further noted that open defecation was the primary cause of diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid, intestine worm infections and cholera.

Mr Boakye Okyere explained that the moratorium was issued in consonance with the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly’s bye-laws on sanitation and waste management which was in line with the provisions of the National Building Regulations.

He charged the 25 trained artisans on the new toilet technology to intensify their sensitization process to ensure that everyone was captured.  ‘We want to promote environmental health quality for the people living within our environs, ” he stressed.

In a power in power point presentation, Mr. Patrick Tsigbey, Municipal Environmental Officer, projected that from 2014 to 2017, the rate of open defecation in urban areas had increased from 8 per cent to 11 per cent adding that many people were engaged in open defecation.

He noted that, 5,103 toilets were expected to be built in Ashaiman and was hopeful that the target would be met at the end of the programme in 2019.   The Basic Sanitation Fund had been launched in the Ho Municipal Assembly, Tamale Metropolitan Assembly with the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly been the last among the three  targeted Assemblies.

The project was funded by the   Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and supported by the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund(UNICEF) with  a seed money of USD 500,000.