Police Pan Latrines Causing Pollution, Residents Angry

The residents of Akalombo, a suburb of Sefwi-Wiawso in the Sefwi Municipality of the Western Region, are angry with the police service in the community for allowing their pan latrines to pollute the whole community.

The stench is caused by the drippings from buckets that are fitted into system. The pan latrine is used by the over 50 police officers and their families.

The community members have, therefore,appealed to the owner of the facility to provide a new modern toilet facility for the police officers and their families to forestall the outbreak of any deadly disease.

“Day in, day out, the entire community is forced to inhale the foul stench emanating from toilets of the police. Apart from the fact that the toilets are outmoded, they are also not being managed properly.

“When the buckets get full to capacity, they are not disposed of immediately and it overflows to the extent that human excreta and urine spill freely on the floor, drip through the gaping holes and get smeared all over the place.

“This is certainly a serious health hazard. It is very unhygienic and we cannot tolerate it any longer”, Emmanuel Yaw Gyebi, an opinion leader told The Finder.

When contacted by The Finder, the Assembly Member of the area, Afriyie Tweneboa, confirmed the unfortunate development, adding that community members are growing impatient daily.

He said several complaints to the police fell on deaf ears while private owner of the facility has also developed cold feet towards maintenance the latrine.

According to Tweneboa, following series of complaints received from residents, he decided to write officially to the Sefwi Municipal Health Environmental Office for action.

He said he was scheduled to meet officials of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the matter yesterday (Monday, Feb 6), adding that “I believe strongly that the EPA and the Environmental Health Directorate should be able to engage the private owner of the property, on one hand and the police service, on the other hand, to deal with the problem once and for all”.