Is owning a latrine becoming a luxury?
Jan 23, 2009
IT costs an average of sh5,000 to dig one foot of a latrine pit in Kampala and other towns across the country. The ideal depth of a latrine is at least 30 feet for a family of four. Simply put this will cost sh150,000.
By Kikonyogo Ngatya
IT costs an average of sh5,000 to dig one foot of a latrine pit in Kampala and other towns across the country. The ideal depth of a latrine is at least 30 feet for a family of four. Simply put this will cost sh150,000.
But in a country where eight million people, according to studies, go to bed hungry, spending this much would be a crazy idea. Many people below the poverty line are left with only one struggle as a matter of life and death – finding the next meal!
They feed on less than sh1,500 a day. This implies that digging 30 feet means foregoing food for three months. A Water and Sanitation Sector Performance Report, 2008, released by the Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment shows that 36% of Ugandans have no latrines in their homes.
Abim and Kotido have the lowest toilet coverage of 2%, according to the report. The rising cost of construction materials also has implications on the availability of latrines in homes. Many people find it difficult to construct latrines, the study noted. The costs range from buying ropes to pull out the earth as the men dig, which costs about sh20,000.
A bag of cement costs about sh25,000, making a latrine slab costs about five bags, which is sh125,000. Then there are the iron bars, the timber to hold the slab, a trip of sand, stone concrete, binding mesh and the builders’ labour costs. All this comes to about sh400,000.
But the latrine is not ready. The cost of buying at least 1,000 baked bricks, each at sh120 and sand at sh75,000 each together with iron sheets, roofing timber, nails, paline wire to hold the roof onto the building firmly plus labour for the builders totals to sh200,000.
And that is not all. One needs to plaster the toilet. About four more bags of cement, a high density polythene emulsion pipe, a set of ventilators` and maybe tiles for the floor.
It all totals to a minimum of sh1.5m to have an average latrine, a figure which many people cannot afford.
Faced with this difficulty, communities in slum areas and villages have devised an option; using their houses to empty their bowels in polythene bags and throw the contents in the middle of the road or in water drainage channels.
According to Protazio Kintu, the chairman of Nakawa division, such behaviour contributes to the frequent outbreak of cholera and other diseases during the rainy season.
He told a meeting of residents at Luzira in Kampala that communities should take the initiative to live in a clean and healthy environment.
“Disposing human waste; even of children in the channels causes diarrhoea and you should avoid it,†Kintu said.
He said it does not require law enforcement for families to dispose of human waste responsibly. “It is a responsibility.â€
Some people who are lucky, have access to a latrine, dug by perhaps a non-governmental organisation, but because decisions are made by men on running the community latrines or toilets, women who go the latrines frequently to dispose of children’s waste are considered an inconvenience.
IT costs an average of sh5,000 to dig one foot of a latrine pit in Kampala and other towns across the country. The ideal depth of a latrine is at least 30 feet for a family of four. Simply put this will cost sh150,000.
But in a country where eight million people, according to studies, go to bed hungry, spending this much would be a crazy idea. Many people below the poverty line are left with only one struggle as a matter of life and death – finding the next meal!
They feed on less than sh1,500 a day. This implies that digging 30 feet means foregoing food for three months. A Water and Sanitation Sector Performance Report, 2008, released by the Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment shows that 36% of Ugandans have no latrines in their homes.
Abim and Kotido have the lowest toilet coverage of 2%, according to the report. The rising cost of construction materials also has implications on the availability of latrines in homes. Many people find it difficult to construct latrines, the study noted. The costs range from buying ropes to pull out the earth as the men dig, which costs about sh20,000.
A bag of cement costs about sh25,000, making a latrine slab costs about five bags, which is sh125,000. Then there are the iron bars, the timber to hold the slab, a trip of sand, stone concrete, binding mesh and the builders’ labour costs. All this comes to about sh400,000.
But the latrine is not ready. The cost of buying at least 1,000 baked bricks, each at sh120 and sand at sh75,000 each together with iron sheets, roofing timber, nails, paline wire to hold the roof onto the building firmly plus labour for the builders totals to sh200,000.
And that is not all. One needs to plaster the toilet. About four more bags of cement, a high density polythene emulsion pipe, a set of ventilators` and maybe tiles for the floor.
It all totals to a minimum of sh1.5m to have an average latrine, a figure which many people cannot afford.
Faced with this difficulty, communities in slum areas and villages have devised an option; using their houses to empty their bowels in polythene bags and throw the contents in the middle of the road or in water drainage channels.
According to Protazio Kintu, the chairman of Nakawa division, such behaviour contributes to the frequent outbreak of cholera and other diseases during the rainy season.
He told a meeting of residents at Luzira in Kampala that communities should take the initiative to live in a clean and healthy environment.
“Disposing human waste; even of children in the channels causes diarrhoea and you should avoid it,†Kintu said.
He said it does not require law enforcement for families to dispose of human waste responsibly. “It is a responsibility.â€
Some people who are lucky, have access to a latrine, dug by perhaps a non-governmental organisation, but because decisions are made by men on running the community latrines or toilets, women who go the latrines frequently to dispose of children’s waste are considered an inconvenience.