Besease Local Authority Middle School laterine project

INTRODUCTION In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of. Diploma to Physical Planning, every Final Tear Student was asked to choose a studio problem and carry it through survey and analysis, design and implemention. The main objective was to consolidate everything what the student has learnt in previous courses and at the same time to make a modest but reel contribution to the development of the country. The project selected was to be undertaken by the villagers themselves through. Self-help The villages surveyed before the final project wee chosen at Besease were, Aburaso, Konomoase, Daku, Bebu and Yabi. Problems of some of the villages were street drainage, poor construction of latrines and lack of classrooms for school children. The problems demanding immediate attention of the people of Besease were the lack of school latrine and the need for a well on the southeast of the village. At the request of the Chief mid the Development Committee, Miss Addaquay embarked on the development of the well leaving the school latrine for the writer. Besease village comes within the Guinea Savanna Woodland vegetation. The land is good for cocoa planta¬tion but the major crops grown by the people of Besease include maize. Plantain, cocoyam and cassava. In other words, the people are subsistence farmers. The existing facilities of Besease include a market and shops, and a post office. The position of the well on the northern part of the village is a problem as the people have to cross the Kumasi-Accra road to get to it. Other problems are lack of public health facilities and again the delaying of work on the new school building under construction. the Village Development Committee is responsible for the construction of the school latrine. The principal object in providing a sanitary latrine is to protect the health of the people. There are two major types of la trines, Family Privies and Public or Communal Privies. In both the Family and Public Latrines ere found the waterborne privies. Aqua Privies and Pit Latrines. Sketches are drawn to illustrate these clearly in the report. In constructing any of these privies there are some general standards that must be adhered to. The criteria for selecting a type of sanitary installation includes cultural, religious, climatic and geological conditions. Ehlers and Steel's requirements given in Chapter 111 my safeguard the health of a family or a community when a latrine is sited to fulfill the seven requirements. The nature of water is exposed to pollution either on the surface of the earth or underground. It is important that latrines are well located so that they cannot pollute sources of water supply. Another agent of disease carrier is the fly, when it flies indiscriminately from feaces to food. In meet of the Ashanti villages importance of latrines is not realized. Improvements have been made on the local construction of latrines In the rural areas, but the villagers do not make it possible for the experts to advise them. The Besease school latrine was constructed by the villagers themselves with technical advice and some material help from experts and voluntary organizations. The soil dug from the pit was used for preparing blocks for the walls of the latrine. Some materials used for the old latrine were also used for the const ruction of the new one. The remaining materials were purchased with the money raised from a harvest and some of the money which the villagers had paid as special rate towards the development of the village.

Source: KNUST