Meru issues directive on toilets
What you need to know:
- County government wants all households and businesses to have toilets.
Businesses and households in Meru County operating without toilets will be closed.
County Director of Public Health Euphantus Kariuki said the county government had issued a notice that all households have toilets by July in a bid to contain a cholera outbreak.
“A few have complied but there is still a large number which has not. We shall therefore arrest and prosecute owners of these houses,” said Mr Kariuki.
According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Health, Water and Sanitation and the World Bank in March 2014, Meru was ranked 43rd out of the 47 counties in sanitation.
According to Mr Kariuki, about 46,000 households in Meru do not have toilets. This accounts for 15 per cent of the households in the county.
The areas mainly affected include Igembe and Tigania sub-counties.
“The lack of toilets cannot be really attributed to poverty. Igembe is popularly known for miraa farming which is sold all over the country. The farmers there have plenty of money. They just seem to be ignorant of the importance of toilets and instead use the bushes,” he explained.
Mr Kariuki emphasised the need for the residents to change their attitudes and build toilets to curb the spread of waterborne diseases.
“It is embarrassing that in this day and age, someone would still use the bush to relieve themselves. If they do not have toilets, we cannot control cholera cases,” said the public health officer.
Cases of cholera have been reported in a number of counties including neighbouring Embu.
