Prez Mahama joins Kumasi residents in clean-up

President John Dramani Mahama joined residents of Kumasi to clean parts of the city during the second National Sanitation Day last Saturday.

While some residents of the city participated in the exercise, others were apathetic to it.

Shop owners and taxi drivers around the Dime Light area at Adum made the exercise in the area a success by actively participating in it.

But at Pampaso, near the Kejetia Bus Terminal at Adum, some residents and traders initially looked on as security personnel de-silted choked gutters and cleared refuse right in front of their shops and stalls, as well as some pavements where they had displayed their wares.

Even though they cheered on President Mahama when he and his entourage, including the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP Nathan Kofi Boakye, and the Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Mr Kojo Bonsu, arrived at Pampaso to clean the area, they did not engage in the exercise.

It took advice from the military and police personnel to get the shop owners to close their shops.

In a brief interaction with the press after helping in the exercise, President Mahama reiterated the adage, ‘Prevention is better than cure’ and said that was the more reason the public had to embrace the initiative and give it the needed support to prevent the outbreak of diseases such as cholera.

Saturday’s national exercise was carried out in honour of the late Vice-President Aliu Mahama, who was very passionate about sanitation.

Bye-law

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development is to come up with a bye-law that will make it compulsory for every Ghanaian to participate in the National Sanitation Day slated for the first Saturday of every month.

When finalised, the bye-law will be adopted by all the assemblies and passed by resolution to make it obligatory for every citizen to take part in the exercise.

It also means that citizens, communities, entities or organisations that do not participate in the exercise will be sanctioned.

The sector Minister, Mr Julius Debrah, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the decision to come up with the bye-law was to ensure full participation by all. 

Mr Debrah was answering questions on the occasion of the second edition of the National Sanitation Day.

He said even though some of the laws under the proposed model existed already, they were too old and needed to be amended to take care of the present situation.

“Most of the prescribed punishments in the laws are nothing to write home about. They are very old and the fines are very minimal and so we have to do something that will be punitive enough to reflect the current circumstances,” he said.

Meanwhile, he urged the media to continue to propagate the need for good sanitation for the public to participate in the exercise.

“If in the 21st century we have to really beg people not to litter and throw plastic from moving vehicles, then it tells you about the enormity of the problem we have at hand,” the minister pointed out.

Second NSD 

The clean-up exercise in Accra received good patronage from some residents of certain suburbs of the city.

At the Achromat Basic School, pupils were busily sweeping their school compound and de-silting choked drains when the Daily Graphic visited the area last Saturday morning.

Residents of Nima-Maamobi also came out in their numbers to clean and de-silt choked drains in their neighbourhood. 

They were supported by the hiplife group, VIP,  who came along with friends in the music industry.

Market women at Nima and Maamobi also cleaned the respective markets, while information vans went round the neighbourhoods to announce and educate the residents on the special exercise 

The exercise was supported by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), the Environmental Services Providers Association (ESPA), the National Service Personnel Association (NASPA), Zoomlion Ghana Limited and other sanitation agencies.

Other entities that supported the exercise in Accra were the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), PZ Cussons, which donated antiseptic soap to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, and the Ghana Rugby Union Players Association (GRUPA)

The Public Relations Officer of the National Council of Muslim Chiefs, Chief Moro Baba Issah, commended the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for its efforts at attaining a clean environment and particularly for initiating the national exercise.

He congratulated VIP on supporting the initiative and called on the group to do more for the community and help sustain the exercise.

Discipline

Members of the GAF were not left out in the exercise. 

A visit to the Burma Camp saw military personnel clearing and burning  weeds. 

Later, addressing the media, the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), Vice-Admiral Mathew Quashie, said it was high time Ghanaians became more disciplined and participated in the national agenda of keeping the environment clean.

On whether the military would help clean other areas of the city in subsequent exercises, he said the GAF would deal with its own jurisdiction.

Hajia Ramatu Mahama, the widow of the late Vice-President Mahama, expressed her appreciation for the decision to honour her husband with the second NSD.

She said it showed that the government acknowledged Alhaji Mahama’s efforts at ensuring good sanitation in the country and urged the government to sustain the exercise. 

She called on all to see the clean-up exercise as a collective responsibility.