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From: wolda002@umn.edu
Date: Mon Apr 26 2010 - 23:41:50 EDT
Nearly A Quarter Of Addis Residents Lack Toilets
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Almost a quarter of Addis Ababa residents have no access to toilets, says
a new report by the Addis Ababa city authorities.
"We estimate that some three million people live in Addis Ababa. Out of
this nearly 25 percent of the population have no access to toilets and
defecate in rivers crossing the city" the report says.
"We cannot tolerate any more waste in rivers and roads. We should be
ashamed. We want to make sure that the city is clean and a better place to
live," said Mekuria Haile, a senior local government official, at the
launch of the report entitled Cleaning and Beautifying Addis Ababa:
Intensifying Environmental and Health Issues with Public Participation.
"Addis Ababa is one of the biggest cities in sub-Saharan Africa. but is
still fighting against solid waste management and health problems posed by
unsafe drinking water and inadequate sanitation," said Haile.
The outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) which hit most parts of the
city in August 2009 "was the result of poor sanitation and hygiene, coupled
with solid waste from the city" the report said.
"I cannot trust the water that comes through a pipeline since that
outbreak. I boil my water every day before serving my family," said Senait
Habte, a resident of the city's Kolfe Keraniyo slum.
"My relatives in rural Ethiopia live a better life than us in the city.
They have good toilets and access to safe drinking water. Seems like the
government has forgotten us," she told IRIN, adding: "There are continuous
electricity blackouts. Sometimes we don't have water for five days. Life is
becoming difficult in Addis nowadays."
Public relations chief at the Water Resources Ministry Bizuneh Tolcha told
IRIN nearly 66 percent of the Ethiopian population has access to safe
drinking water and 56 percent has access to a latrine.
"According to our water tests, the water in Addis is very clean but the
problem is contamination due to its unsafe use," Tolcha told IRIN.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) says 60-80 percent of the current disease
burden in Ethiopia is attributable to environmental health risks, which
include poor hygiene and inadequate sanitation.
Eco-toilets
US-based NGO Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and its partners have been
promoting an ecological toilet called the ArborLoo, designed by Zimbabwean
Peter Morgan specifically for African conditions. It serves both as a basic
toilet and makes use of excreta for growing fruit trees.
The AborLoo is a single pit shallow compost toilet 1.0-1.5m deep comprising
a ring beam, slab and structure.
"Each concrete toilet slab costs US$7-20 and anyone can use it. It best
suits the elderly and disabled people. You can dig it in half a day and can
also plant trees on it," says Bekele Abaire, programme manager at the CRS
office in Ethiopia.
During use, fly and odour problems are reduced by regularly adding soil,
wood ash and leaves to the excreta in the pit. Once full, the old toilet
site is covered with soil and left to compost with the parts of the toilet
being moved to another place, rebuilt and used in the same way again.
A tree is planted on the old site, preferably at the start of the rainy
season, after the old pit contents have composted for a while.
"All of my family used to defecate at the back of our house or in an open
field. This is the case everywhere in our `kebele' [district]; it is
normal. We now understand that latrines are important for our hygiene and
health. ArborLoo has helped us a lot. We plant fruits, vegetables, trees
and above all we are safe from acute watery diarrhoea and other diseases,"
said Seid Abdo who is now using ArborLoo in Arsi Zone, Oromiya Regional
State.
"Many communities achieved 100 percent sanitation coverage in areas that
had 1 percent or less [coverage] before the project. And surprisingly none
of these areas were affected by AWD, while others suffered from it," Bekele
told IRIN.
"We are trying to implement more eco toilet projects in Addis Ababa. We
want to scale it up in urban areas like Addis Ababa and Adama but we are
challenged by lack of adequate policy and lack of funding," Bekele told
IRIN.
Source: IRIN