Tatale Port Health workers at border post have no toilets Tatale Port Health workers at border post have no toilets

By George-Ramsey Benamba, GNA

Tatale (NR), April 2, GNA - Workers of the Port Health Unit of the Ghana Health Service at Tatale border post at Natchamba in the Northern Region have no public place of convenience although it serves as a major entry point to Togo.

Apart from that, lack of refrigerator to store their equipment and lack of means of transport had remained their major hurdles that impeded their orderly progress.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at the station, Mr Solomon Tiyala, Head of the Unit at the Border said the situation was not only inconveniencing workers, but also an embarrassment to the entire District.

“How can Port Health Officers, who are supposed to be teaching people on sanitation issues in the district be without a single toilet facility to show to them its importance.?”

He said the saddest aspect was the fact that the entire stretch had no single public toilet adding that “Anytime we have problems with our stomachs, there is nothing we can do here rather than going to the bush, which is simply not acceptable.”

Mr Tiyala appealed to the Tatale/Sangule District Assembly and other stakeholders to consider providing them with a modern office complex with all gadgets and facilities to adequately excute their mandatory duties.

“We go around teaching people on the dangers of open defecation and yet we do not have any facility at our border post. Is that not an irony in our job?”

He said they do not also have residential accommodation at the border post bordering Togo, which was tremendously affecting their 24-hour activities.

“Assuming we have a residential accommodation here, we would have been able to run an effective shift system on disease surveillance, check the immigrants effectively during outbreaks of diseases.”

Mr Tiyala said the Chamber and Hall structure that was constructed some years back did not befit the status of the Unit, considering the fact that it was in a district capital-Tatale.

He said apart from vehicles and accommodation, his outfit lacked computers and equipment to diagnose suspects of various diseases.

Although Mr Tiyala admitted that they had some gadgets to screen suspects, lack of a Refrigerator was another challenge that stifled their progress and called on the Tatale/Sangule District Assembly, Philanthropists and Non-Governmental Organisations to support them to carry out their mandate.

He told the GNA that officers at the Border were compelled to defecate in the bush amidst all kinds of hazards due to lack of toilets.

“How can we convince people to construct toilet facilities in various homes and offices, when we ourselves here do not have such facilities?”

The Port Health Unit of the Ghana Health Service undertakes disease surveillance at various border posts throughout the country.

Apart from that, they are also alerted to observe and, in some cases, diagnose some people, when they are suspected of carrying some diseases.

They also educate people on sanitation and the entire environment, ensuring cleanliness everywhere.

GNA

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