Environmental service providers clean Accra

The President of the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, has stated that it is time Ghanaians paid realistic fees for the management and disposal of the waste they generate.

He said for far too long, households had enjoyed subsidies for waste collection when such arrangement had not helped the citizenry to develop a sense of responsibility.

Under the circumstances, he said, it was only right for those who produced waste to bear the full cost of managing it.  When that was done, he said people would be disciplined and avoid insanitary practices. 

Dr Agyepong made the suggestion during a clean– up exercise in Accra last Saturday. 

Clean– up exercise

The exercise was organised by the ESPA in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the Ledzokuku Krowor and La Nkwantanang municipal assemblies in Accra.

The areas cleared of filth included, the central business district, La Market, Kaneshie Market, Tema Station, Korle Lagoon and its vicinity, the Agblogbloshie and the Madina market. 

The activity was in support of the Vice-President, Kwesi Amissah Arthur's initiative to clear the country of filth and keep it clean.

At the La Market, sanitation officers were seen collecting rubbish from gutters, while market women and residents cleared their homes and disinfected the open drains.

Other Trending Stories

Curfew hours at Kpatinga in Northern Region extended by Interior Ministry

Let’s use access to information in building resilient societies — Information Minister

Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo, the Okuapehene

Afrifah Yamoah Ponko passes on

Subsequent audit reports will vindicate National Cathedral project – Gov’t spokesperson

The situation was not different near the Korle Lagoon, where the once open drain filled with plastics and other waste materials and overpowering stench, was now free of garbage and water flowed through it freely.

Let's be responsible

Dr Agyepong said all citizens were fundamentally responsible for the solid waste they generated. 

He said although assemblies had the primary duty of managing solid waste and providing conveyance services for the people in their jurisdictions, their success was dependent on the support and participation of the central government, private service providers and the general public. 

He said due to the recent outbreak of cholera in the country, it  was important that menbers of the general public managed their waste responsibly and ensured that it was disposed of properly.

"We currently have challenges with public education on waste but this has to change. It must be intensified to make the public aware of the consequences of living in filthy conditions," he said.

ESPA support is laudable

The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Julius Debrah, lauded the ESPA for its support in sustaining the sanitation campaign. 

He encouraged citizens to contribute their quota by resorting to the lost concept of communal responsibility and support for one another.

He said the ministry had plans to reactivate and enforce the sanitation byelaws. To that effect, the ministry had ordered all metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs) to furnish it with monthly reports of people who had been prosecuted for sanitation offences. 

"We need to have a change in attitude in the way we treat waste and become each other’s keeper,” he said. 

The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, said the Regional Coordinating Council would see to it that all MMDAs played their roles well where sanitation was concerned. 

The Chief Executive Officer of the AMA, Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, expressed his optimism for a clean city following the Vice-President’s call on everyone to help rid Accra of filth. He also said the AMA would work hard to ensure that the initiative was sustained.

He mentioned that in the coming weeks, the banks of Korle Lagoon would be fenced to prevent encroachers and  prepare the area for the upcoming Accra sanitation, sewage and water project.