Sanitation facilities key to good health - Ms Kommeh

A new sanitation facility for the St Peter’s Catholic Junior High school, in new Takoradi, has been constructed and handed over to the authorities of the school.

Ms Veronica Kommeh, Headmistress of the cluster of schools, said she was overwhelmed with joy as she foresees that the days of lateness, absenteeism and truancy by students were over.

She said “for a long time we have faced the problem of school children skipping classes with the excuse of going to ease themselves and by doing that, they lose out on academic work and this has increased the failure rates in the community”.

The GH¢130,000 ultra modern sanitation facility includes rain harvesting trunks, 20-seater WC with septic tanks, urinals and hand-washing equipment.

The facility was made possible by the Water Access and Sanitation and Hygiene for Urban Poor (WASH-UP), a programme of the CHF international, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development, to improve and increase access to sustainable sanitation facilities.

Ms Kommeh said, improving school hygiene and sanitation practices were key in ensuring excellent academic performance as well as the general well-being of children.

She said public schools had over the years lacked basic sanitation facilities saying, this has resulted in a multiplicity of health problems in schools and communities.

Mr Alberto Wilde, CHF Country Director, said the organisation recognized the growing challenges in terms of urban water and sanitation facing the country and said the WASH-UP programme would help in reducing the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and sanitation, as well as achieving a significant improvement in the lives of slum dwellers.

Captain Anthony Cudjoe (Rtd), Chief Executive of the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, said he was unhappy with the poor maintenance culture of Ghanaians, which had affected many state properties and called for a turning point.**