Tema-Ghana, Nov. 16, GNA – The Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) has inaugurated a five-member management team to handle all public places of convenience in the metropolis.
The team is led by Mr Derick Tata Anku, Head of the TMA Waste Management Department.
Mr Frank Asante, Tema Metropolitan Public Relations Officer, said the members are from the Tema Traditional Council, Tema East Sub-Metro District Council, the operators’ association, and a staff of the Assembly.
The committee’s mandate is to monitor the operations of the “traditional public toilets,” which were constructed as part of the resettlement package for the people of Tema.
It would also investigate and establish the contractual and management status of each public toilet and submit recommendations on whether the current management should continue or otherwise.
Mr Asante noted that the TMA was particularly concerned about standards because the state of the facilities had direct impact on the health of the people, especially the vulnerable.
The Assembly’s Waste Management Department and the Public Health Department have been facing challenges with the strict enforcement of its standardised code of operation due to the non-existence of an overarching body to harmonise that space, he said.
It was for that reason and to strengthen the regulatory regime that the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Armah Ashitey, inaugurated the Committee.
Mr. Asante said the TMA had put in place robust measures to ensure that all new buildings incorporated toilet facilities in their drawings before permits were issued and officials ensured they were implemented.
To improve liquid waste management in the Metropolis, the Assembly and its partners had constructed a treatment plant at Bankuman at Tema Newtown to serve those enclaves.
