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 A bulldozer raes the toilet to the ground
A bulldozer raes the toilet to the ground

GWCL demolishes public toilet

True to its word, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has demolished a public toilet that was sited on the company’s main underground pipe lines at Abotare Junction at Abeka Lapaz in Accra.

On February 1, 2018, a demolition team which included personnel from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), with security provided by the police, used a bulldozer to demolish the toilet.

“A team from our outfit went to inspect the toilet and realised it was on our mains so we sought the support of AMA and the police to destroy it,” the GWCL Chief Engineer for the Accra West Region, Mr Peter De-veer, told the Daily Graphic after the exercise.

Onlookers, including residents, hailed the GWCL for the action it took.

The residents had continously expressed fear the water they use could be contaminated by faecal matter from the illegal project and thus put their health in danger.

By the regulations governing the construction of public toilets, the facilities could only be sited at least 500 metres away from underground water pipes.

Owner’s claim

Mr De-veer said the owner of the facility claimed he had a building permit from the Okaikoi Sub Metropolitan Council but he could not provide the said permit on demand.

Illegal water connection

Mr De-veer said apart from the illegal siting of the toilet, the owner also illegally connected water from the GWCL pipes to overhead tanks at the project site.

The Daily Graphic of January 29, 2018, reported that the construction of the toilet in the area was causing apprehension amongst community members and in response Mr De-veer promised that the project would be demolished soon.

A concerned resident also petitioned the Member of Parliament (MP) for Okaikoi Central and Deputy Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah, seeking his intervention to stop the operation of the facility.

The petition described the project as “a health hazard and nuisance to the neighbourhood.”

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