Residents of Charkor cry for public toilet

Residents of Charkor Electoral Area in the Wa Municipality are apprehensive of cholera in the area as a result of the lack of public toilets, leading to open defecation.

They are worried that the spread of public defecation in the area exposed them to faecal matter-related health risks such as cholera, diarrhoea and typhoid.

Most of the houses in the area do not have household toilets. As such, residents have to resort to nearby bushes and open spaces to ease themselves.

Dignity

Memunatu Ibrahim, a resident of Charkor, told the Daily Graphic that lack of access to toilet facilities denied them of their dignity and also posed a significant challenge to them, particularly as women.

She said some of them have to wait till late in the evening to attend to nature in order to preserve their dignity and avoid embarrassment.

“It is very embarrassing to be seen walking into the bush to ease yourself during the day, and some of us have to suppress the urge till late in the evening.

"My children are forced to defecate in polythene bags at night to avoid the risk of snake bites," she said.

She said the situation becomes worse during the rainy season when one is unable to suppress the urge to attend to nature’s call, “if you cannot wait for the rain to stop, you would have to cover your head with something.”

Ms Ibrahim said people have become so used to the open defecation practice that even tenants of the few houses that have toilets in their homes still opt for open defecation.

She, therefore, appealed to the local assembly and non-governmental organisations to support the area by building public toilets, which she said would help minimise the harmful practice of open defecation.

The Assembly member for the Charkor Electoral Area, Adam Masahudu, admitted that the lack of public places of convenience was one of the challenges facing the Charkor community and said he had made several appeals to the municipal assembly but to no avail.

Despite the government's inability to build one for the community, he said there had been sensitisation campaigns to encourage residents to construct their own household toilets.

"I personally undertake door-to-door visits to educate residents about the health risks associated with open defecation, which can cause significant harm to their overall health and well-being," he said.

Mr Masahudu said the district assembly had made it known that public toilets are not supposed to be in urban areas, but rather in rural areas and consequently implored households to build their own toilets.

He, therefore, appealed to non-governmental organisations involved in building toilet facilities to support the effort.

SDGs

Goal Six of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations is to achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations by 2030.