BY JENNIFER C. TILOS
NEGROS ORIENTAL, Oct. 21 (PIA) --
In support for the zero open defecation (ZOD) campaign, Negros Oriental recently
held a public hearing on a proposed ordinance prohibiting open defecation with
penal provisions.
Chair of the committee on health
provincial board member Dr. Liland Estacion said the province is pushing for
the crafting of this sanitation policy to address open defecation and poor
access to improve sanitation.
Dr. Estacion said the ordinance also
aims to safeguard quality public health and well-being of the residents for
sustainable water and sanitation programs in the province.
Open defecation practice contributes
not only contaminating the water system, food, soil and increases the number of
flies and insects carrying excreta which will bring about gastrointestinal
diseases that may be fatal.
In a proposed ordinance, aside from
the fines of P200, P500 and P1,000 from the first to third offenses
respectively, person identified defecating in public places will also undergo
behavioral change seminar, clean the area where open defecation was done or
undergo community service.
It is noted that diarrhea disease
ranks number three as the leading causes of morbidity in Negros Oriental where
barangay residents are still using unimproved toilets and defecating in the
open areas.
In a Provincial Health Office
record, out of 241,688 households in the province, only 185,214 or 77 percent
have access to sanitary toilets while 24 percent or 56,474 household are still
without access to sanitation or defecating in the open areas, however, 221,592
or 92 percent households all over the province have access to safe water (level
I, II & III).
The ZOD provincial technical working
group headed by Dr. Egardo Barredo considers the task challenging to end the
practice of open defecation.
Dr. Barredo has called on the
barangay officials to collaborate with local health officials as such situation
is prevalent among poor households in the hinterland barangays.
Most residents do not have sanitary
toilets considered poorest of the poor, thus the PTWG is also collaborating
with DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilya municipal link for its beneficiaries.
With the technical assistance of
World Bank, the PTWG has identified pilot areas with high incidence without
sanitary toilets include municipalities of Bindoy, La Libertad, Vallehermoso,
Mabinay, Pamplona, Dauin, Zamboanguita, Siaton, and the cities of Tanjay and
Guihulngan.
With the active support of some
local chief executives, a series of Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS)
approach have been conducted to households without access of fix-point toilets
in the barangays. (mbcn/jct/PIA7-Negros Oriental)