Liquid Waste Management; Stakeholders Examine Situation

A strategic urban sanitation planning workshop recently ended in the nation’s capital.

According to a study carried out by the African Water Association (AfWA), 80 per cent of the population in Yaounde have proper toilets while 20 per cent are still practising open defecation. It is also revealed that access to adequate sanitation has become a major concern in most developing countries where onsite sanitation system (toilet and septic tanks) account for more than 80 per cent of African population.

These toilets and septic tanks need to be drained when full. However, even when people succeed in draining their toilets, AfWA experts say there is no proper treatment plan in managing these liquid wastes especially in the town of Yaounde.

Once these wastes are not properly treated, they contaminate the environment, thereby affecting the population. It is within this backdrop that a twoday workshop on reinforcing African Sanitation Operators’ capacity through peerto- peer partnerships (RASOP-AFRICA) took place in Yaounde from December 19-20, 2017.

The Director of Programmes and Professional Development at AfWA, Simeon Kenfack said the workshop was a strategic urban sanitation planning (SUSAP) for high level stakeholders. He added that the workshop is within a three-year Pan-African programme which aimed at improving the capacity of African sanitation operators to better perform their duties when it comes to onsite sanitation (household toilets and septic tanks).

The project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is implemented by the AfWA. Simeon Kenfack also ...