Ashaiman records zero cholera case in seven years – MCE

Mr Albert Boakye Okyere, the Ashaiman Municipal Chief Executive, says efforts of the assembly in improving sanitation have led to a zero record of cholera cases in the municipality. Mr. Okyere further said that open defecation, which was prevalent in the Ashaiman and posed a threat to health and the environment, had been dealt with significantly.  He said during a free health screening for bakers, organised by Olam Agri, an agribusiness company in collaboration with the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council and the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly. 'Sanitation in Ashaiman, it shouldn't even take me alone to say that it has improved because in the past years, people knew that coming to Ashaiman, at the entrance what you are greeted with is a full spillover container with refuse running over, with animals all around them,' he stated. He added that the people caught in the act of open defecation and other sanitation offences were brought to book, stressing that the assembly would do all it takes to manage s anitation safely and promote the well-being of the people. 'Those days you see women and men, children and old, all squatting to engage in open defecation, but with the effort of the assembly in collaboration with other development parties, today open defecation is no more,' he said. He stated that the assembly, in collaboration with the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), spearheaded the provision of household toilets and making sure that every household has access to toilets to help reduce open defecation. The MCE said that the waste-water treatment plant, with capacity to serve about 24000 households, already has over 5000 homes connected, with the hope that more homes would be added by the end of the year. He added that the treatment plant was expected to produce gas from the faecal matter, adding that steps would be taken to link the sewer lines of public toilets to the plants to achieve that goal. Source : Ghana News Agency