By Howard Walker, Staff ReporterA SUBSTANTIAL portion of the Jamaican population, 41 per cent, still use pit latrines, a figure the Ministry of Health says it finds acceptable.
The Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions 2002, a joint publication of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) and Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), reveals that 59 per cent of households had access to a water closet (flush toilet), a decline of three per cent in the year prior.
Only 21 per cent of households were linked to a sewer system, and absorption (soak-away) pits remain the most common method of sewage disposal.
INCREASED
The survey also revealed that all households in Jamaica have access to some type of toilet facility, and that the use of pit latrines had increased by four per cent in a year.
"Absolutely nothing is wrong with that," said Peter Knight, director of environmental health in the Ministry of Health.
"What is important is the containment and treatment so disposal does not go awry either to the environment or public health."
The location of some pit latrines may provide a health hazard, "But in principle nothing is wrong with using a pit latrine," Mr. Knight said.
But some persons see it as a sign of stunted development.
Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Senator Norman Horne last month while indicating that he intended to contest the St. Elizabeth south east seat in the 2007 general election, pledged to rid all schools in the constituency of pit latrines.
"Institutions of learning must be a place of development and advancement of our youth, not symbols of backwardness and regression as is demonstrated every time a child uses a pit latrine," Senator Horne said.
But Mr. Knight insists that the latrine "has its place", and that Jamaicans "must be careful not to paint a picture that pit latrines are not good." Pit latrines over the years have been the source of numerous debates and controversies. Outbreak of typhoid, have in the past been linked to communities served by this type of sanitary facility.
There was also a report from the Ministry of Health that sewage from overflowing pit latrines was finding its way into water sources.
Doreen Brown, co-ordinator of the Build Jamaica Foundation (BJF), said at first her organisation had sought to eradicate pit latrines as part of its mandate, but has since changed focus.
"First we were talking about eliminating latrines but our research revealed that certain areas cannot accommodate flush toilets for a number of reasons," she said.
MORE HYGIENIC
"Frankly, it is more hygienic if you don't have running water. If you have a flush toilet and you have no water to flush it, you can imagine the situation."
Ms. Brown said, however, that she was concerned that 30 per cent of basic schools in the island, particularly in the rural areas, have pit latrines and these are used by children between the ages of three and six on a daily basis.
"Of 1,900 basic schools, 600 uses pit latrines," she said.
Some basic schools are still using pit latrines that were built before Independence and children are being exposed to dangerous diseases, said the BJF co-ordinator.
"Many have no place to even wash their hands after using these pit latrines, making the danger even greater," she said, while reflecting on a Gleaner story pasted to her office wall of a child who drowned in a pit latrine. She said some children, "wash their hands in the same water used by other kids, in a bucket."
But the newer pit latrines that are being built are more hygienic and safer Ms. Brown said. They are built with with sealed bases to prevent the sewage from seeping into the water table.
