HC Deb 26 November 1942 vol 385 cc894-5W
Dr. Morgan

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the present method of sewage disposal in Sierra Leone and especially Freetown; whether the sewage canals in the town are still open, and the nightly emptying of buckets therein still obtains; whether the sewage disposal in troop areas as contrasted with civilian regions have been improved by the building of an Otway pit; and whether such methods are being more extensively used in West Africa?

Colonel Stanley

The existing methods of sewage disposal in Sierra Leone are by bucket in urban areas and by pit latrines in rural districts. There are a few septic tank latrines in urban areas but these are exceptional. The method of disposal of sewage from the buckets is by emptying into the sea or into covered earth pits. It is understood that the Otway pits installed by the military authorities have proved satisfactory. Improved and more modern methods of sewage disposal are being considered in the British West African territories.