We will build more public toilets to increase open defecation free communities - Akufo-Addo

The quality of Ghana's sanitation has improved even though there is still more to do, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.

Delivering the 2020 State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament on Thursday [February 20, 2019], President Akufo-Addo said, there has been an increase in "open defecation free communities" [ODF] in three regions in the north - Savannah, North East and Northern, according to the Northern Regional Environmental Health Image.

"According to the Northern Regional Environmental Health Image, the three regions, that is Savannah, North East and Northern, the number of open defecation free (ODF) communities has increased from 5 per cent as of June 2016 to some 58 per cent as of July 2019", he said.

He added that the latest data from the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources indicated that ODF communities in Ghana as a whole have increased from 410 in 2016 to over 5,000 communities.

President Akufo Addo, however, attributed this progress to "hard work, commitment and the provision of infrastructure"

Touching on the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) manifesto fulfilment of toilets for all, the President said the government has built 13,800 toilets.

"Mr Speaker, we have not stopped building toilets, we will build more", he assured.

Sanitation Ministry

President Akufo-Addo said the creation of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources has contributed to many Ghanaian communities becoming open defecation free (ODF) under his government.

He said government would not relent on its efforts in providing facilities that would help improve the country's sanitation, particularly reducing open defecation.