Media charged to name, shame sanitation offenders

The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Accra, Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, has urged the media to name and shame sanitation law offenders to serve as a deterrent to others as part of the measures to ensure healthy environmental practice.

He said sensitisation programmes on environment should not only focus on exposing some of the challenges facing local assemblies, but must also expose those who engage in practices such as open defecation and indiscriminate littering of the environment.

“So as we embark on educating people on good sanitation practices, I hope the media will consider all measures, including naming and shaming of people engaged in unhealthy sanitation practices in communities,” the MCE added.

Mr Sowah, who was speaking during a courtesy call on him by a delegation from the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) in his office in Accra yesterday, said “some years ago they used to publish pictures of people engaged in open defecation in newspapers and also display on television; and this helped a lot in the clean sanitation drive”.

The MCE said no nation had witnessed significant development, particularly in the area of environmental sanitation, without the collective involvement of all stakeholders.

He said efforts to keep cities and towns tidy was a collective responsibility that should involve all stakeholders, including the private sector.

Mr Sowah, therefore, commended the GCGL for their contribution to environmental sanitation by bringing out issues of sanitation to the fore.

Greening project

Mr Sowah also said there was the need to plant more trees in the national capital to make the city green, adding “in every major city, we have solid waste, liquid waste and green maintenance and cemetery management teams,”

The MCE said even though the Assembly was doing its best with the greening project, there was more room for improvement through the involvement of the private sector.

Graphic sanitation campaign

The GCGL delegation was led by the Director of Marketing of the company, Mr Franklin Sowa.The others were the Adverts Manager, Mr George Danso, and a Senior Corporate Communications Officer, Mrs Kyerewaa Boateng.

Mr Sowa informed the MCE of the upcoming launch of the company’s national sanitation campaign in Accra on April 28, 2021.

Dubbed: “Graphic sanitation awareness campaign”, the initiative is aimed at bringing together key stakeholders in the sanitation sector to brainstorm on best ways to tackle sanitation challenges and also create awareness of the need to support efforts to keep the country clean.

“We will dedicate the whole year to sanitation campaign to educate the people on the consequences of insanitary environment and vice versa,” Mr Sowa said.

He expressed the hope that the company’s sanitation campaign this year would help remind the people of the need to always keep their surroundings clean.