Some Final year undergraduate students of the African University College of Communications (AUCC), known as the E.EVAMA GROUP, has petitioned the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) over the continuous threat Open Defecation poses to human and marine life in the Accra Coastal Community of James Town.
The group made up of mainly Development Communication students embarked on a campaign to end the menace in James Town since, it’s one of the most affected communities in Accra.
According to the Group, the situation is more dire in slums as well as some other rural areas.
They, are therefore, seeking for the support of the AMA to help educate the residents and inhabitants about the dangers of Open Defecation and its toxic impact on health and our beaches including marine fishes.
The group, was joined by the concerned citizens of James Town, to present a petition to AMA to immediately close down a public toilet operator who has been releasing human excreta into the Sea.
They further argued in the petition that in the urban cities, where those without household toilet are not able to afford public toilet, residents have had to resort to Open Defecation.
“According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, (17.7% 5.5 million) people in Ghana still practice open defecation,” the petition pointed out.
The group cited that Professor Chris Gordon, Director, Institute of Environment and Sanitation, University of Ghana, Legon, in an interview with Ghana News Agency and Citi newsroom recently, who sadly indicated that open defecation costs Ghana $79 million every year.
