‘SOS’ for Nungua SHS - Work on toilet facility resumes

The timely intervention of the Member of Parliament (MP) for Krowor, Ms Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, and the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA) yesterday prevented the closure of the Nungua Senior High School.

The Teshie-Nungua District Court ordered the closure of the school effective Friday, November 24, 2017 over the insanitary and dehumanising conditions at the school’s place of convenience for the female students.

The court, on Friday, November 17, 2017, in a ruling, found the management of the school guilty over insanitary conditions with reports suggesting that female students often “pounded” faeces at the facility to avoid an overflow.

It subsequently ordered that the facility be pulled down immediately.

Intervention

However, Ms Quaye, who is also the Minister of Fisheries, yesterday provided five mobile toilets for use by the female students while the assembly appealed to the court to suspend the enforcement of its order and give it time to address the challenges.

Work on an abandoned 27-seater toilet facility under construction has also resumed.

Ms Quaye told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the closure of the school could affect the school’s academic calendar and further affect the academic progression of students.

The mobile toilets which were to serve as a temporary measure, she said, would be used by the female students while a permanent solution was sought to address the challenge.

She noted that the mobile toilets would be maintained periodically by the suppliers until work on the new facilities under construction were completed and ready for use.

Academic work

When the Daily Graphic visited the school yesterday, school was in session, while a delegation from the Nungua Paramountcy was also on a fact-finding mission following media reports on the impending closure.

The school authorities failed to speak to the media, but they told the delegation, led by the Asafoatse of Nungua, Nii Akwei Dankwah, that the dilapidated facility, said to have been constructed in the late 1990s, had not seen any major facelift despite the growing population of the school which presently stood at about 1,200.

The Kronti Mantse of Nungua, Nii Odai Kwei III, told the Daily Graphic that the visit was to provide the paramountcy first-hand information on the issue.

He said the delegation also found out that the water closet facilities in the boys’ dormitory were equally out of function, leading to students at the facility also resorting to the “pounding” method each time the septic tanks were unable to take the waste.

“Immediately, we want to replace the broken-down water closet facilities and also provide a biogas system to enable the school to recycle the waste into energy,” Nii Akwei said.

The Municipal Chief Executive for Lekma, Madam Naa Adjeley Twum, who also visited the facility, declined to comment when she was approached by the Daily Graphic.

“I am no longer granting interviews on the matter. Presently, the Ministry of Education is handling the issue, I have made my position clear that I no longer want to talk about it,” Madam Twum said.

Facility

 The dilapidated toilet facility at the girls’ dormitory of the school. Pictures: DELLA RUSSEL OCLOO

A tour of the facility by the Daily Graphic revealed structural defects on the building housing the facility, part of which also serves as a bathroom for female students.

The challenge of water supply to the school has also compounded the situation, leading to an overpowering stench in the atmosphere, thereby creating discomfort for visitors to the area where both the female hostel and the toilet facility are located.

The Daily Graphic gathered that the school’s old students association recently provided a borehole following media reports on the insanitary conditions there.

New block

Following the court’s decision to close down the school, work on the abandoned 27-seater facility began yesterday.

While school authorities would not speak to the media, the Daily Graphic gathered that the contractor, prior to the visit, had sent loads of construction materials such as cement and iron rods to resume work on the facility which is being funded by the Greater Accra Area (GAMA) Sanitation and Water project to increase access to improved sanitation and water supply.

Writer’s email: della.russel@graphic.com.gh