Africa, Development & Aid, Environment, Headlines, Health, Poverty & SDGs, Water & Sanitation

DEVELOPMENT-BURKINA FASO: “Sanitation Costs a Lot, But It’s Not a Luxury”

Brahima Ouedraogo* - IPS/IFEJ

OUAGADOUGOU, Dec 31 2007 (IPS) - For some in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, rainy seasons have spelt trouble – at least from the point of view of sanitation.

“During the rains, it was full of water,” said Issaka Ilboudo of a pit latrine in the Pissy area’s market, located on the outskirts of the city.

However, the situation has now improved with the installation of proper toilet facilities for which Ilboudo is the caretaker, collecting fees of about five cents from those who use the facilities.

“Now, they’ve closed this,” he told IPS, in reference to the pit latrine. “We are happy, as it’s clean.”

According to Oumar Ilboudo, a technician who deals with waste collection in the area of Boulmiougou, which oversees Pissy, toilets were installed at several local markets.

“It was noted that in the markets and public areas, people defecated around stores, in places where people rested,” he said in an interview with IPS. “We told ourselves that if people changed (behaviour) outside, they would do the same thing at home.”

In a city where issues of waste management have largely been disregarded, this initiative forms part of a broader effort to improve sanitation, and prevent liquid and solid waste from contaminating ground water. Officials put the overall cost of the project, which also focuses on drainage of rainwater, at about 19.5 million dollars.

“In urban areas, we did not consider sanitation as (a key part of) the basic infrastructure of a town; we put the emphasis on potable water, electricity, telephone services, main roads – forgetting that everything that we built around this would necessarily require the removal of waste water and also of…household refuse,” Arba Jules Ouédraogo, director of hygiene at the National Office of Water and Sanitation (Office national de l’eau et de l’assainissement, ONEA), told IPS.

“Sanitation is often considered at the end of the process of construction. If you take a household that is building its home, it’s towards the end that they think of putting in a toilet – one that does not meet any standard,” he added. “In fact, most people do not have an acceptable sanitation device, but (rather) makeshift…devices that cause a lot of pollution and illness.”

To encourage people to start using modern toilets, municipal authorities now exhibit the equipment needed for these facilities at the Boulmiougou town hall.

According to Oumar Ilboudo, about 20 people enquire daily about the toilets, which cost about 2,000 dollars each – a substantial amount in this West African state, where 27.2 percent of people live on less than a dollar a day, according to the latest United Nations Human Development Report, and 71.8 percent of people on less than two dollars a day.

Pit latrines located along paths have been closed with the construction of roads.

Officials also have a pilot project for portable toilets, with plans to place them in outlying areas. One portable toilet costs about 1,700 dollars.

According to Mahamoudou Cissé, who oversees efforts to keep the capital clean, planning for these outlying areas is crucial, as they are more affected by water and soil pollution because of the poverty of people living there.

Noted Ouédraogo, “There is a problem in certain parts of the town that are greatly expanding, where there is neither co-ordination nor planning for collective sanitation.”

The city is currently seeking about eight million dollars to lay pipes for connecting outlying areas to the waste water drainage network, Arzouma Zombré, director of infrastructure and transport for Ouagadougou, told IPS.

A programme to build public fountains has also been set up, to discourage residents from digging wells in places where the chances of finding water are slim – and where these holes then become pit toilets. A total of 120 fountains have been built, notably in Pissy, Zombré said.

Authorities have also started to implement new regulations banning housing development in Ouagadougou without sanitation. “We see that we have made mistakes in planning these areas without taking into account the state of refuse collection and sanitation,” added Zombré.

Government has committed itself to improving the rate of access to sewerage services in Ouagadougou to 59 percent. According to ONEA, only 10 percent of residents of Burkina Faso have toilets of acceptable quality. Outside of Ouagadougou and Bobodioulasso, the two main cities, the rate is about two percent.

“Sanitation costs a lot, but it’s not a luxury, it’s an obligation. How can we feel there is real development in our towns if, here and there, we have problems going to the toilet – or conduct business around waste, with pollution?” Ouédraogo asked.

(* This story is part of a series of features on sustainable development by IPS and IFEJ – the International Federation of Environmental Journalists.).