AMA develops hygiene handbook

The Department of Public Health of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has organised a training workshop for owners and operators of public toilets within the area.

A special “Guide to Safe Management for Public Toilets in Accra Metropolitan Assembly” booklet was launched and distributed to participants to help them in the operation and management of public toilets.

The training centred on the management and maintenance of public toilet facilities.

Booklet launch

The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Accra, Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, stated that the agenda to make Accra a clean city was no longer a political talk or a wish, but a collective craving of the public, and, therefore, required the active role of operators and owners of public toilets.

“It is important to keep our surroundings clean, and our efforts over the years to clean Accra have resulted in low cholera outbreak. Zero tolerance for unhygienic practices is our priority,” he said.

 Mr Sowah said the assembly had observed over the years that public toilet operators and owners managed their facilities without any clear guidelines and protocols, and, therefore, deemed it fit to raise the bar with respect to environmental health concerns by launching the book on the guidelines.

“With the free distribution of these booklets and hand gloves to the facility operators and managers, there will be a uniform standard of operation and management of the public facilities, and the assembly will be free to deal with an offender if one is found guilty of going against the guidelines,” he stated.

Expectation

The Director of the Metropolitan Public Health Department, Ms Florence S. Kuukyi, said the booklet was to address the unhygienic management practices of public toilet facilities.

“The purpose of this set of guidelines is to provide a framework that will guide the management of public toilets to be at the acceptable standard. It aims to serve as a guide to manage public toilets to meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard of public toilet management.

“We expect that the guidelines will help the operators to keep and maintain clean facilities and the owners in turn will not only be concerned about the daily income but also read the booklet to put up appropriate structures to avoid having issues with the assembly,” she added.

She said the booklet would also provide the AMA with the appropriate template and standards for the regulation and monitoring of all public toilets within the area.

“The AMA has also got a role to play in the management of public toilet facilities, so the booklet will also serve as a guide for the monitoring and regulation of the facilities within the metropolitan area,” she stated.