BEHN, Grand Bassa – Grand Bassa’s fifth district representative, Thomas Goshua, is leading a campaign to end open defecation in his district. His initial move is seeing him provide 200 plastic toilets for use at public facilities, including schools, markets, and town halls.
Goshua, who co-chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Sanitation, frowned at open defecation practices and called on district residents to add latrines to their homes.
Speaking at a thanksgiving ceremony on May 14, Goshua told the group, “Let’s do our best to build toilets and avoid using the bushes.” The ceremony marked the start of his awareness campaign, during which he unveiled a low-cost type of toilet called the Quee Toilet. The toilet is a rubber commode normally installed on top of a pit latrine.
The lawmaker urged more people to embrace a more sanitary lifestyle: “All of us know that to be healthy, we have to abide by those health guidelines, but when we behave stubbornly and refuse to start building toilets in our homes, then we will continue to face problems with our well-being.”
He expressed concern about his people’s well-being and promised to lead a delegation of campaigners to raise awareness among every clan about the danger of using the bushes for latrines.
USAID’s Liberia Sanitation Market Assessment report identifies low sanitation coverage as an ongoing challenge for the country, as the prevalence of open defecation remains high at 35 percent, with about 1.8 million people practicing open defecation.
In light of this, the U.S. agency supports the government in combating open defecation and helping households access a basic sanitation service level by undertaking a Sanitation Market Assessment under a five-year project, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Partnerships, and Learning Sustainability.
The assessment is in five counties: Bong, Grand Bassa, Lofa, Montserrado, and Nimba. These counties account for 65 percent of the Liberian population that practices open defecation and represent 70 percent of Liberia’s population.
Featured photo by Alexander Musa Jr
