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Mr Ron Strikker, the Netherland Ambassador to Ghana, has urged concerted efforts to address the menace of open defecation in Ghana.

He said that under the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme, the toilet building component within the Tamale Metropolis had a target of 7,000 latrines in communities by 2020 and with its current record being 2,000 latrines, there was a need to scale up efforts within the next 16 months to be able to meet the target.

He noted that voluntary compliance of residents within the Tamale Metropolis was key towards achieving the open defecation free agenda.

He said The Netherlands Government was committed to supporting Ghana to address challenges regarding sanitation.

Mr Strikker made the remarks during a field visit to the Changli Community within the Tamale Metropolis, after he and Madam Anne- Claire Dufay, Country Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ghana, paid a courtesy call on Mr Salifu Saeed, the Northern Regional Minister in Tamale.

The visit was to enable the delegation have an overview of the impact of efforts by the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly to attain its open defecation free campaign agenda.

UNICEF Ghana with financial assistance from the Embassy of The Kingdom of Netherlands is currently supporting Ghana to implement an urban sanitation project, from 2015 to 2019.
The project is being implemented at Tamale Metropolis in the Northern Region, Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region and Ho Municipality in the Volta Region; with an objective of increasing access to improved water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in communities and schools.

Mr Strikker noted that despite the fact that the Metropolitan Authorities had set out measures including prosecution, to make Tamale an open defecation free area, the participation of citizens in understanding the need to have household latrines would speed up the process of achieving that goal.

He said that having good sanitation facilities was also a matter of dignity to every citizen of every country, so it was up to the citizens to support initiatives that intend to sanitise the environment.

He said he was impressed with the results of the programme and was therefore, hopeful that all parties would work to ensure the construction of the targeted sanitation facilities by the end of 2019.