The Gushegu Member of Parliament and Deputy Minister of Transport, Hon Alhassan Sulemana Tampuli, has commissioned a newly constructed 20-seater toilet facility to serve about 7,000 residents of Gariche Fong No2, a suburb of the municipal capital.
The MP had to intervene to provide the facility after the municipal authorities demolished an old structure in the community on health and safety grounds.
Mr. Issahaku Mudasir, Assemblyman for the Gariche Fong electoral area, in an interview told THE CUSTODIAN the timely intervention of the legislator has brought a huge relief to the inhabitants particularly the adult population.
He said the people did no longer have a place of convenience thereby resorting to the practice of discriminate open defecation in the community, adding the safety everybody was no guaranteed as a result of the worsening insanitary conditions.
“One of our topmost priorities was the toilet facility and our Member of Parliament heeded to our clarion call. Though, the policy in the country today is that everybody household should have a toilet facility but the economic circumstances here are different but we cannot also allow people to defecating around and this explains why this facility is important to us” the Assemblyman emphasized.
Adamu Fuseini, one of the elderly women gathered for the commissioning of the project said the dignity of both men and women in the community will be restored.
“We didn’t have any choice but to defecate in the open in the midst of men because when you come here and the men are there to also free out, you just have to pretend that you don’t see them. I am happy for what the MP has done for us” she stated.
For his part, Mr. Alhassan Tampuli after the commissioning on Monday, (April 15, 2024) admonished the community members to collaborate with the Assemblyman to ensure proper maintenance of the facility. He noted the edifice is the proper of the community and everybody must take interest in the management of it so that it will serve its purpose for long.
The lawmaker further underscored the need to maintain good sanitary conditions to promote healthy life among the community members.
Meanwhile, the effort of Tampuli satisfies goal 6 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which advocates for Clean Water and Sanitation for all by 2030 as well as goal 3 which also enjoins UN member states to ensure Healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
