Minister hails Graphic-Zoomlion Cleanest Region Ranking initiative
The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR), Lydia Seyram Alhassan, has described the initiative by the Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL) and its collaborators to rank the cleanest regions as a major move towards addressing the country’s sanitation challenge.
Advertisement
Ms Alhassan, therefore, called on all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) to get their act together to ensure the success of the initiative.
“It is heartwarming to have the GCGL that covers the whole nation for a partnership for such a noble agenda towards improving sanitation. The Ministry of Sanitation is enthused about this initiative and is ready to support it in terms of resources and expertise, and so we call on our chiefs, elders, religious leaders, political leaders and everyone to get involved in this project to rid the country of filth,” she stressed.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso West Wuogon made the call when the Managing Director of the GCGL, Ato Afful, led a team to the ministry last Monday to discuss the maiden regional sanitation ranking scheduled to start next month.
Mr Afful was accompanied by the Director of Sales and Marketing at the GCGL, Franklin Sowa, and the Adverts and Sales Manager, George Danso.
Also present at the meeting were the Executive Secretary of the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), Ama Oforiwa Antwi, and the Communications and Corporate Affairs Director of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Emma Adwoa Appiah Osei-Duah.
The minister was flanked by the Director of the Waste Management Division, Kwaku Quansah, and the Director of Procurement at the ministry, Theophilus Okine.
Good initiative
While commending the GCGL for the initiative, Ms Alhassan said it was important for all stakeholders to come on board to address the sanitation challenge because the government alone could not do it.
Other Trending Stories
She said the competitive nature of the rankings would motivate the regions to put in their best to keep the MMDAs under their jurisdictions clean.
“Sanitation and health care are intertwined and that is why we need to ensure that we dispose of waste properly and watch our sanitation situation.
“Most of the visits we make to the hospitals are needless if we can take good care of our sanitation and environment,” he said.
The GCGL, in collaboration with Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL), is working to roll out an initiative that will rank all the 16 regions in terms of cleanliness.
The first phase of the concept focused on stakeholder engagement, policy conversations and clean-up campaigns across the regions.
As part of the Graphic-Zoomlion Cleanest Region Ranking, all 16 regions in the country will be ranked according to how efficiently waste is managed by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) within their jurisdictions.
The rankings will be done using parameters such as availability of solid waste infrastructure, access to sanitation and hygiene facilities, prevalence of litter and illegal dumps; enforcement of
environmental regulation and community involvement.
Others are the use of technology solutions, availability of green spaces and urban planning, waste data and metrics, as well as contracts and permits.
To facilitate the process, Mr Sowa led a team to the MSWR last Thursday to seek support for the project.
GCGL’s commitment
For his part, Mr Afful said the GCGL was committed to using its platform as the country’s leading media organization to mobilise stakeholders to tackle key development challenges, including sanitation.
He said the company was motivated to embark on that initiative in furtherance of the government’s agenda to rid the country of filth.