Ghana National College students queue for toilet

STORY: FROM MAGDALENE SEY, CAPE COAST

The lack of toilet facilities at Ghana National College, Cape Coast, in the Central region, is creating much discomfort and hampering academic studies of students, as each passing day, many of them have to join long winding queues to attend to nature’s call.

Unfortunately, a16-seater-toilet facility in Afenyi House, a male house in the school, Today gathered, was as of now the only facility serving the entire male students in the school, which was woefully inadequate.

As a result, many male students of the school are compelled to ease themselves in a bush around the premises of the school anytime they want to attend to nature’s call.

This practice, the students expressed, had the potential of leading to outbreak of diseases as the bush was in close proximity to the school.

“Because many of us male students go to the bush to defecate, the stench of our faeces is always felt on the school premise which has some health implications for us,” the students expressed.

Some of the male students, who spoke to Today on condition of anonymity, disclosed that they normally wake up as early as 3:00 a.m., to queue at Afenyi House, and wait for their turns before they are able to ease themselves.

“We are forced to wake up as early as 3:00 a.m., to queue before we are able to ease ourselves.

… As a result of this many of us end up missing our school lessons, and those of us who can’t stand the sight of the queue are left with no option than to adopt the ‘free range system’ which is to defecate in a nearby bush,” a male SHS 3 student told this reporter.

According to them, the situation on the College’s campus was affecting their studies as they sometimes run late for classes because they had to queue to ease themselves.

They have therefore called on President Mills to, as a matter of urgency, help them complete a 48 seating Water Closet (WC) toilet facility which was started by the Nkrumah Centenary Planning Committee.

“We GHANAS’ students are appealing to President John Evans Atta Mills to come to our aid by assisting us complete our 48 seating WC which was began by the Nkrumah Centenary Committee,” a student of Afenyi House appealed.

When Today visited the school, it observed that the 48-toilet facility which was started in November last year and was expected to be completed within three months time, has been completely abandoned although it had reached the roofing level.

Today also discovered that the contractor, who at a point used his own money to do the work, had not received both the first and second certificates presented to GETFUND.

The project, according to sources close to the school, costs over GH¢367,224.

The paper further observed that although all the four male houses in the school have toilet facilities, they were in very deplorable state.

Today can state on authority that government had earlier wanted to renovate the deplorable toilet facilities for the students but later changed its mind to construct new ones.

Meanwhile reliable information gathered by the paper indicates that the GETFUND authority has urged the headmaster of the school, Mr Robert Koomson Barnes, to inform the contractor to go for the first certificate presented to GETFUND to enable him complete the project.