By kofi yeboah
2.4 billion people worldwide do not have access to adequate sanitation and 1.8 million people die every year from diarrheal diseases. 90% of these are children under the age of 5 years.? Without access to adequate sanitation people resort to open defecation which pollutes the environment particularly water resources.
This situation is no different here in Kumasi, the second largest city of Ghana. According to the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (2008), about 58% of the almost 2 million residents of Kumasi do not have household toilets. Out of this figure, 40% use public toilet, 12% use pan latrine and 6% resort to open defecation.
Though public toilets offers a form of relief to houses without latrines, the conditions of these toilets are appalling. Apart from offering minimal privacy to users, the offensive odour on these facilities coupled with the fly nuisance make them particularly unpleasant to use. Additionally, these toilets are poorly maintained and are potentially dangerous to visit at night. In the mornings and evenings, there are normally long winding queues of people waiting for their turn to use the facility because they are inadequate for the number of users. The cost per use is between 30GHp to 50GHp. That means, for instance, a family of 5 could spend up to GH? 75 per month on using a public toilet despite the unhygienic conditions.
In order to avoid the inconvenience on the public toilets many people, especially at night, defecate into plastic bags and often dispose them into waterways, garbage piles or open spaces (a practice commonly referred to as flying toilets). Others resort to open defecation, thereby polluting the environment particularly water resources and spreading diseases amongst women and children. All these are as a result of the fact that, adequate household sanitation is a rare and expensive luxury which the urban poor in Kumasi cannot afford.
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Luxurious in-home sanitation made affordable
Clean Team?social enterprise model makes household sanitation?affordable?and easy. Operations began in Ashtown-Kumasi in 2011 and have currently expanded to over 8 communities such as Alabar, Aboabo, Sawaba, Akwatia line, Dichemso, Sabon Zongo, among others. Customers who sign on the service are given an attractive branded portable toilet with removal cartridge containing toilet additive. The cartridges are collected either 2 or 3 times per week depending on the service level and the customers pay GHs 25 or GHs 35 per month respectively. Payment can also be done in bits thus on weekly basis.
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Improvement in the ?health and safety of women
Our customers are very happy with our product and service because we offer a better alternative to public toilets and open defecation, a more affordable solution than building a permanent household latrine and a more convenient, cleaner and safer toilet experience than that provided by public toilets.They can now use their time profitability than spending it in long queues, have their privacy and their?women and young girls?are now safe from prying eyes and attacks or possible rape.
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Reduction in spread of diseases and protection of the environment
Not only do we make any trip to the toilet as enjoyable as it is incidental but we are helping to eradicate open defecation and flying toilets which pollute the environment, spreads diseases and is aesthetically displeasing.? For the over 500 toilets that have been installed,? an average of 3500 people are being served and about 270tonnes of faecal sludge has been safely removed from customers? homes to the final disposal site at Dompoase.
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Employment generation
For every 100 customers recruited, 2 field workers are engaged- a service associate, who collects the money paid and a waste collector.? Currently, there are 10 management staff locally and about 20 field workers.? We have elevated the idea that waste collector initially known as ?Kruni? is essential for the public and private good. Therefore our customers are made to see their waste collectors as honourable people who should be appreciated for their service.
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Collaborative research with academic?institutions?
Our research and development unit also have collaborative programs with?Cranfield University,?Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology?(KNUST) and other educational institutions in order to add to knowledge. We are currently researching into an appropriate treatment plant for our sludge for which by-product such as organic fertiliser can be used by commercial farmers in this region.
The ultimate aim of Clean Team Toilets is to build a replicable, multi-country, self-sustaining business model delivering sanitation services to millions of customers world-wide.
This article was written by?Asantewa Gyamfi Tenkorang, Research Manager, Clean Team. Follow her on Twitter -?@asantewamonney
