286 Katsina Communities Certified Open Defecation Free

The National Taskforce Group on Sanitation and its Katsina State counterpart have certified 286 communities out of 298 in Mai’adua Local Government Area of the state as Open Defecation Free (ODF)

Alhaji Sani Adamu, the Director of Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in the area announced this in Mai’adua on Wednesday.

He said only 12 communities were yet to be certified.

“Efforts are being made to ensure that the remaining communities attained the status,” he added.

He said between 2010 and 2017, the agency had drilled 226 boreholes and currently had another 44 being drilled across communities in the area.

He said the water supply project included hand pumps and motorised solar boreholes to ensure consumption of safe and clean water in the communities.

Adamu noted that the feat was achieved through collaboration with security agencies, traditional and religious leaders and the Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS) groups.

He said the agency had constructed 41 latrines across 76 primary schools in Mai’adua area with a borehole in each of the benefiting schools.

He said the agency facilitated the establishment of school environmental health clubs across the 72 primary schools in the area to promote the five domains of hygiene, including environmental, personal, food, water and menstrual aspect.

He said 216 primary and Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers had been trained as facilitators of the schools environmental clubs.

“Three teachers are recruited in each school comprising two male and a female,” he said.

The director commended the administration of Gov Aminu Masari for prompt release of counterpart fund for implementation of the objectives of the project.

He also lauded the efforts of development partners like DFID and UNICEF for their determination and commitment towards the success of water sanitation and hygiene in Nigeria.

The Mai’adua council emerged second among the 20 participating local government areas in Katsina in the water sanitation and hygiene project .

The project was jointly funded by the DFID, UNICEF and the state governments in Nigeria.