MANAGING HUMAN EXCREMENT IN THE WA MUNICIPALITY

Abstract

Managing human excrement in the Wa Municipality was the focus of this study. The main objective for the study was to determine how human excrement was managed in the Wa Municipality. Questionnaire s, interview guide and observation were the main tools used to collect data for the study. The study revealed that there was only one public toilet facility in each of the five communities studied. There was accumulated human excrement around homes, especially homes that were located near the bushes and refuse dump s. Up to 67.29% of the respondents had no toilet facilities in their homes and so defecated in open spaces and bushes. Others excreted into polythene bags and threw them into refuse containers. Houses in the Wa Municipality had on the average , one (I) or two (2) toilet facilities implying an average ratio of I toilet facility: 10 household members . The sanitary condition of the facilities in the houses was also affected because of the number of people who patronized them. The KVIP facilities were not adequate, located over longer distances and people had to spend between 10 and 15 minute s queuing to access them. For facilities that enhance effective management of the human excrement in the Wa Municipality, one could only talk of septic tanks and water closets (W .C ). Forty per cent of the study respondents graded the municipality as being poor in terms of the availability of toilet facilities and management. Poor educational background , people 's personal lifestyle , the inaction of the concerned agencies in ensuring sanity in the home and its environs and the lack of educational campaign s on the possible threat s of open defecation also encouraged open defecation in the Municipality On the bas i s of the above , the study concluded that the management of human excreta in the Wa Municipality remains poor and unhealthy . As part of its recommendation s, the study challenged the Wa Municipal Assembly to enforce the bylaws that require that landlord s provide adequate toilet facilities for their tenants and to also provide adequate public K VIPs for population without home toilet facilities.