145 prosecuted for sanitation offences

A total of 145 culprits were prosecuted over various sanitation offences in the Eastern Region in 2017, according to the Regional Environmental Health Department.

The Regional Environmental Health Officer, Bassanyin Isaac, explains that enforcement of sanitation bye-laws is crucial to the improvement of sanitation condition in the region and has therefore tasked the Districts and Municipal environmental officers in the region to intensify prosecution of sanitation offenders .

“Sanitation right now in Ghana has three basic areas-the Educational aspect, enforcement and putting up structure. Now with enforcement,the environmental officers are enforcing the laws,taking people to court.As at last year, records prove that they have taken about 145 people to court on Sanitation cases”.

However, Ghana is struggling to fulfill these goals due to multiple reasons including poor sanitation management system, low technology in sanitation management ,and poor sanitation law enforcement.

It is estimated that, the poor sanitation condition in Ghana Costs government Ghc293 million every year.

The negative health implication of unsanitary condition in Ghana is mind-boggling. For instance , in 2014, preventable diseases, including diarrhoea, killed over 4,500 children in Ghana, while cholera killed 247.

Currently,sanitation improvement rate of the country is around 15% which is very low in meeting the SDG goals.

He said sanitation in the region is improving gradually but expecting massive improvement in the coming years due to the political commitment exhibited by the Eastern Regional Minister Eric Kwakye Darfuor who has made sanitation a key requisite to measure performance of the municipal and District Assemblies upon which performance agreements have been signed with the MDCEs.

The Sustainable Development Goal 3 and 6 enjoins countries to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages and ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation.