Bauchi: N100 fine on open defecation
The imposition of N 100 fine as punishment for open defecation in Khamsin village of Dass Local Government Area in Bauchi, has helped check the menace , community leader , Malam Abdulkadir Sarki , said on Sunday.
Sarki told the News Agency of Nigeria in Khamsin that the fine , introduced some time ago , had brought about sanity to the surrounding environment that had hitherto constituted health risk to residents .
“We had to maintain personal and environmental hygiene , so I instructed that N 100 be charged as fine on any person , child or adult, including those on transit , found defecating openly in the community .
“Residents whose houses are close to areas prone to open such defecation, have been assigned the responsibility of monitoring and arresting culprits ,” he said.
The community leader expressed satisfaction with the level of compliance , adding that the few cases of violation involved people on transit, who were warned never to repeat the act
He said that pit toilets were constructed throughout the community to provide people with alternative places of defecation, as such there was no excuse to defecate openly.
Sarki further explained that the measure had made even children to imbibe the habit of defecating at approved places (public toilets ), adding that parents had been informed during community meetings that they would be held culpable over violation by their children.
He said UNICEF, Zone D Field Office , Bauchi, had played a major role in ensuring the eradication of the menace of open defecation in the area through its programmes on hygiene and sanitation .
Mr . Abubakar Ibrahim , member of a committee on Water , Sanitation and Hygiene , established by Dass Local Government Council, said UNICEF had been training communities on how to operate traditional pit toilets to reduce odour and also prevent them (toilets ) from collapsing .
He said that after the training and sensitization on hygiene and sanitation, mobile toilets were constructed through community efforts, and that had reduced the number of patients of water - borne diseases in most communities.
Hmmm.... Try open dedication and get in 100naira trouble
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