MONROVIA – Joe Swen, a vulnerably employed Liberian, aged 50, runs a ‘hanging bathroom’ in the township of West Point, in Monrovia to help curtail open defecation on the waterfronts of the township.
Swen is a father of two children, ages four years and seven months respectively.
For the past seven years, Swen has been running his business in the township.
His ‘hanging bathroom,’ constructed with planks and zinc provides services to many residents, marketers and visitors in West Point.
Customers are charged L$5 to urinate and L$10 to defecate in the Mesurado River, which empties in the Atlantic Ocean on the other side same township.
Swen’s ‘hanging bathroom’ business also provides hot water for nearby residents and others who do not have the time to make a fire either with charcoal or wood to take a shower.
Between five to ten minutes, customers visit the ‘hanging bathroom.’
Feces and other wastes from customers do not go into a septic tank. They float and mix openly with the river.
The wastes flow downstream into the Atlantic Ocean, which pushes them back onto the shores. The river is polluted and it endangers the survival of the creatures.
“I am running a hanging bathroom over the river and I also do hot water business.Sometimes, people are tired to light fire – so we wake up early in the morning to make hot water here for them to take bathe. We charge L$10 for bucket, or two buckets for L$15. You will only take your towel from your house to come and take bathe. We have 24-hour hot water service here,” he stated.
He narrated that few years ago, where he now has the hanging bathroom, used to be a place where both men and women sat openly and just defecated.
“If you came here those mornings, afternoons and evenings, you would see men and women facing each other defecating on the beach,” he added.
He calls his business “hanging bathroom” because, it hangs over the Mesurado River.
Earning and Workforce
Despite its infamous nature, running a ‘hanging bathroom’ is not an easy task for a single person.
Swen has three workers, who provide different services to customers at the business center.
An elderly man, believed to be in his 60s, sits on a chair, collecting fees. He also hands over wipe papers to customers; while the two others busy themselves by fetching water, re-filling the drums consistently, and ensuring that the fire-hearth remains under the drums.
No Much Headache in Purchasing
Swen doesn’t require much to please his customers.
However, the poles planted in the water are constantly needed to be checked. Also, the corrugated zincs used as fence need to be constantly checked too as the breeze from the Atlantic Ocean makes them rusty very fast.
At times, only nails are needed to be hammered into planks or to allow the zincs that are fading apart.
“I can only buy wood to put the water on the fire; and it can be hard for me to buy those drums you see over there because, it is difficult to spoil,” he indicated.
No Appetite to Work for Others
For the past decades, Swen has not been employed by anyone either in the public or private sector.
His ambition and desire to earn money hastily is responsible for the establishment of his vulnerable business, the ‘hanging bathroom’.
“For me, I don’t love working for people, I believe in doing business. From the day I been knowing myself, I been doing business. I don’t like to work for people because I love fast money,” he stated.
Service to Township
Most residents of the township see his business as a “service” being rendered to residents of the township.
“We have passed the stage of men and women sitting together openly and easing themselves. We have separated the place now; we have men and women sides. I am earning something and helping the community,” he maintained.
“I wanted to make a change that’s why I got into this business,” he added.
Taxation
The Office of the Commissioner of the Township of West Point also levied taxation on Swen’s ‘hanging bathroom.’
Swen disclosed that he pays L$250 (US$1.15) monthly as tax to the local government.
Plea for Citizens to Utilize Ideas
Swen urged Liberians to desist from sitting down supinely waiting on government to provide them job, when, according to him, opportunities abound to put people to work.
He wants Liberians to be creative and venture into businesses to will provide ends meets for they and their families.
According to him, persistent complaints from Liberians about hardship would persuade others to “think about evil and tear down the country.”
“The problem we are faced with now is because, we embraced war to come into this country. We can’t put the blame on past leaders,” he noted.
“I believe that we should stop shifting blame and put our ideas together and put hand around whosoever that will come in power after President George Weah to do better things for our country. Things are not really bad right now, as long we can get food to eat.”
UNICEF JMP Report
The Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) report of 2017 shows that about 42 percent of Liberia’s population practices open defecation.
It maintained that sanitation is very poor, with the vast majority of people in rural areas lacking decent toilets and latrines, and having to defecate in the open instead.
The report divulged that less than 10 percent of Liberians have access to safely managed drinking water and sanitation services.
About West Point
West Point is a township in Monrovia located on a peninsula which juts out into the Atlantic Ocean between the Mesurado and Saint Paul rivers.
Home to approximately 75,000 people, West Point is one of Monrovia’s most densely populated slums.
Environmental degradation has gradually caused part of the peninsula to erode into the ocean.
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