World Toilet Day – There are still no sanitary toilets in Sri Lanka
Yesterday, the 19th of November marked ” World Toilet Day” and it was revealed by the executive member of Sri Lanka Public Health Inspectors Association W. D. Mr. Roshan Kumara, in Sri Lanka, about 1/20 of the current number of houses do not have a ‘sanitary toilet’.
This year’s theme ‘Valuing Toilets’, underscores the intrinsic values of toilets in improving health, ensuring dignity, and facilitating economic development. Despite progress in recent years, around 4.2 billion people still lack access to safely managed sanitation, leading to the spread of diseases and undermining overall well-being, according to says UN.
Earlier, it was suggested to resume the aid system given to low-income earners for building a toilet, in addition, there is a strong need to calculate the number of toilets and cisterns that should be available in every school and prepare those needs for girls and boys according to the relevant needs, emphasized by Roshan Kumara.
Every year November 19 is named as World Toilet Day. That is to draw attention to the world public about the need to use a hygienic toilet.
However, “the Sri Lankan population whose need for a “sanitary toilet” has not been fulfilled is still living in our country. It is an urgent need and focus is essential,” he said.
Commenting on the statistical data of the surveys conducted by them, he further said, “In Sri Lanka, there are still a large number of families who do not have their own toilet, and it has been identified that about 1/20 of the existing houses in Sri Lanka do not have a sanitary toilet.”
Besides, the most sad situation is, that there are toilets in unusable condition in schools all over Sri Lanka, and we hope that this year’s World Toilet Day will start to correct this situation” further added the executive member of Sri Lanka Public Health Inspectors Association W. D. Mr. Roshan Kumara, in Sri Lanka, He added.
Meanwhile, speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, 15th of November Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha warned that 74 school buildings across the island have been identified as unsafe buildings, posing potential threats to the safety of students.
The Minister made these comments under a tragedy reported from a school in Wellampitiya suburb of Colombo, where a 6-year-old child (a girl) was killed and several others were left injured after a school wall collapsed on Wednesday, 15th November.
According to UN remarks, Sri Lanka has fared better than many other South Asian countries in terms of toilets and sanitation, with around 90 percent of the households having access to safe sanitation. But this still leaves around two million people without access to good toilets, especially in tenement gardens, coastal communities, and some remote villages.
Most rural schools do not have good toilets, which means students have to do their needs in the open. It has also been noted that some toilet pits have been improperly constructed, leading to raw sewage contaminating the water table.
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