Catherine Afeku and her team at the Cape Coast Castle
The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Arts is to set up committees to fight open defecation (ODF) along the coast of the country.
The sector minister, Catherine Ablema Afeku, who disclosed this, indicated that the committee would consist of members from the tourism industry, representatives from the traditional council, regional coordinating council and the security agents. Their task, the minister pointed out, would be to end the shameless act of ODF which she indicated, is giving the country a bad name.
According to Ms Afeku, the major task of the committee would be to carry out massive education on attitudinal change to help reduce and eventually eradicate the canker from society.
The tourism minister made this known during a tour of some tourist sites, mainly castles and beaches in the Cape Coast metropolis and the Komenda-Edina-Egufo-Abririm (KEEA) municipality of the Central Region.
The visit was to enable her assess the state of those facilities following a recent video documentary in which certain individuals were seen openly defecating close to the Cape Coast Castle – at a time some tourists had come there for sightseeing.
The minister appealed to the traditional rulers in the area to help her outfit in the fight against ODF.
Mrs Afeku stated that her ministry would collaborate with the various ministries such as Fisheries, Food and Agriculture, Local Government and Rural Development as well as Information – and with the assistance of tourism ambassadors – embark on a sustained campaign against open defecation.
She identified the absence of proper toilet facilities at tourist sites in the coastal areas as a key factor for the conversion of the coast into places of convenience.
The minister therefore, promised that new toilet facilities would be constructed at those areas.
The Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan, who accompanied the minister on her tour, expressed worry about the situation.
He promised the support of the Central Regional Coordinating Council in the national fight against open defecation.
The Omanhene of the Edina Traditional Council, Nana Kojo Condua, praised the tourism minister for her effort to fight the menace especially, in the coastal communities.
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From Joseph Annan, Elmina