Toilet Association invests €1.3 million to promote sanitation in Eastern Province

Global Dry Toilet Association of Finland (GDTAF) has invested €1.3 million to promote wholesome sanitation in Eastern Province under the Ukazipalile Integrated Project.

GDTAF Project Manager, Sari Laurila says the €1.3 million is being channelled through the two-year Zambia dry sanitation country programme, which started last year and is progressing accordingly.

Ms Laurila was speaking during the official opening of the two day Dry Sanitation Trainer of Trainers Workshop held at Eastern Comfort Lodge in Chipata.

The training has attracted 35 participants from within Chipata district to be trained in the promotion of sanitation in Chipata district and Eastern Province as a whole.

The 35 participants were picked under Ukazipalile Integrated Project which oriented people and carried out a baseline study in all the districts including Eastern.

Ms Laurila said the project targets to promote sanitation in various rural communities of the Eastern Province as a way of curbing open defecation.

She explained that the dry toilet project concept is meant to promote the construction of environmentally friendly toilets that can be used to promote sanitation and revenue earning to the people.

“The project is here to promote sanitation and waste being turned into a resource. Changing of people’s mindset and behaviour takes time,” Ms Laurila said.

She said under the project, her organisation is not meant to come and build toilets but to promote the dry toilet concept among the people.

And Eastern Province Water Supply and Sanitation Coordinator, Abraham Banda said the training of trainers workshop aims to train district staff and lower district structures on the relevance of a urine-diverting dry toilet and it’s construction.

Mr Banda the Eastern Province has been implementing a Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) programmes with a huge funding from Government and different partners across the world.

However, he said that CLTS programme has not yielded desirable results due to a number of reasons which include poorly constructed latrine structures which cannot stand the rains, floods, wind, loose soils and resistance to change.

“In order to solve this problem, the Ukazipalile Project has come to introduce latrines which are environmentally friendly and promotes reuse of faecal matter for agriculture activities and road construction,” he said.

Mr Banda said the programme intends to introduce the value aspect that comes with faecal matter when using well-constructed dry toilets.

“This training workshop wishes to bring emphasis that faeces should not only be viewed as waste but also as a raw material that can be used for other purposes and has value which can bring about entrepreneurship and economic growth,” he said.