Residents still apathetic to National Sanitation Day; Tamale reintroduces sanitary inspectors
The Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, has tasked the AMA Public Health Department to ensure that all households within the metropolis are registered with the National Waste Bin (NaWaBin) Distribution Programme.
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He said that would make residents desist from dumping refuse into open drains and cultivate a sense of responsibility for their refuse.
The call followed complaints from residents of London Market in Accra during the third National Sanitation Day (NSD) exercise held in Accra last Saturday.
The residents claimed that because they had not been supplied with waste bins, some of them threw their rubbish into the drains.
The third exercise was in honour of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to recognise the prominent role he has played in ensuring good sanitary practices.
The Chief of Staff, Mr Prosper Bani; the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, as well as some assembly members and staff of the AMA, inspected the exercise in some communities in Accra.
About the exercise
The NSD campaign was launched on September 17, 2014 by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Julius Debrah, with the aim of instilling attitudinal change in Ghanaians to clean their environment and control the indiscriminate dumping of refuse in their communities.
To that effect, the first Saturday of every month was chosen for the NSD.
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The first two exercises were held in Accra.
Lukewarm attitude
During a visit to the London Market, it was observed that the open drains close to the market were choked with plastic materials.
While some of the residents, mostly the youth, stood in the drains to remove the filth, others were busily going about their businesses, with no sign of interest in the exercise.
One of the onlookers was a poultry trader at the entrance of the market where the open drain was being cleared.
Close to him was a laundry man who turned a blind eye to the exercise.
When the Daily Graphic asked why he was not participating in the exercise, he replied in Ga that he did not dump refuse in the drain and, therefore, did not see why he should clear what others had generated.
His response drew comments from some residents who said the filth in the drain was generated by the people of Bukom and not residents of the London Market.
The situation was not different at the Salaga Market in Accra. Some traders actively participated in the clearing and the removal of silt from the drains behind the market, while others went about their businesses.
At Osu Alata, a community adjacent to the Osu Castle, there was little activity to mark the day.
Some workers of Zoomlion, a waste management company, were spotted clearing filth from an open drain, while others looked on unconcerned.
Cleaning competition
Residents of Agege 205 at Dansoman exhibited the communal spirit when they came out in their numbers to clean their environment.
Residents on each side of the streets competed with each other as to who had the cleanest open drain.
A resident, Madam Agnes Kofi, told the Daily Graphic that although it was a common practice for the residents to clean their environment every day, the NSD gave them an extra responsibility to come out in their numbers to participate in the exercise.
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Foreigners participate
At Dansoman Last Stop, four foreigners from Portugal and Slovakia distributed hand gloves and face masks to residents who participated in the exercise.
They also joined in the exercise by sweeping, while commercial drivers, obviously users of the area, went about their commercial activities.
For Ms Flaria Santos, her decision to join in the national effort was informed by the commitment of the government to improve on the sanitation situation in the area.
She urged the AMA and waste contractors to play their part in the national effort by monitoring and collecting rubbish on time.
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Get involved
Addressing the media, Dr Vanderpuije described as sad the refusal of some Ghanaians to participate in the national exercise.
"As we are working, you see the commercial drivers, you can see some residents unconcerned and that is the challenge that we are facing," he said.
He said there was an urgent need to back the national exercise with law to get more people involved, saying, "If we have a law that we can hold people responsible for what they do, I think it will go a long way."
For his part, Mr Bani said he was encouraged by the turnout of residents and urged all to own the exercise at both their household and community levels in order to have a healthy nation.
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Tamale re-introduces ‘Samasama’
Samuel Duodu reports that the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA) has reintroduced the sanitary inspectorate unit, popularly known as ' Samasama', to ensure that residents keep their immediate surroundings clean always.
The assembly has also decided to engage the services of a prosecutor to deal with sanitation cases and those who flout the sanitation and environmental bye-laws of the metropolis.
This was disclosed by the Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Abdul-Rahman Hannan Gundadow, during the first national clean-up exercise of the year at Tishegu and Salaba in the Tamale metropolis last Saturday.
The three-hour exercise was heavily patronised by residents who defied the early morning cold weather to clean their environment.
Mr Gundadow explained that the decision by the assembly to reintroduce the sanitary inspectors was to enforce the sanitation and environmental bye-laws to ensure that people kept their surroundings clean always.
Similar exercises took place in other suburbs of the metropolis where residents cleared choked gutters of filth.
The MCE commended all who took part in the exercise and urged residents to always clean their environment and desist from indiscriminate dumping of refuse in gutters and drains to prevent the outbreak of diseases such as cholera, malaria and related communicable diseases.
He urged all and sundry to practise personal hygiene by washing their hands regularly with soap and water to stay healthy.
Sanitation bye-laws
Observing the national sanitation day (NSD) in Tema, the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Isaac Ashai Odamtten, emphasised the need for Ghanaians to be law-abiding and respect the sanitation bye-laws to sustain a healthy environment, reports Benjamin Xornam Glover from Tema.
He said ensuring good sanitation was critical to address recurrent diseases such as cholera, malaria and typhoid.
He added that by partaking in such regular clean-up exercises, Ghanaians would reduce the huge cost of treating those diseases.
Apathy
The MCE, who was unhappy with the apathy exhibited by traders at the Texpo Market at Baastona, near Tema, warned that the assembly would not spare anyone who disregarded its orders to keep the environment clean.
The Deputy Tema Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police Mr Matthew Appiagyei, who accompanied the MCE, called on the traders and shop owners to actively participate in future exercises.
The team also toured the Community One Market, Sakumono, Community 1 Site 2 and 20, as well as the Community 8 Market, to monitor the clearing of choked gutters and drains, as well as the evacuation of piled up filth.
In honour of Asantehene
The National Sanitation Day for the month of January was commemorated at Aboabo in the Ashanti Region in honour of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, for his contribution to national development, Joseph Kyei-Boateng reports from Kumasi.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Asokore Mampong Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Alhaji Nurudeen Hamidan, said there was no need for the assembly to instruct the people to involve themselves in the clean-up.
He said the fight against filth was “everybody’s business” and that people must be responsible by ensuring clean surroundings.
National Service persons join
In a related development, the Ashanti Regional Office of the National Service Scheme (NSS) for the first time involved nearly 2,000 national service persons across the region in the clean-up at the Kejetia bus terminal.
The Ashanti Regional Director of the NSS, Mr Kwesi Quainoo, emphasised the need to rekindle the spirit of voluntarism among the youth.
He said that in the past, the youth were usually associated with voluntarism and selflessness but with commercialisation taking centre stage of their lives, voluntarism in particular was now rarely seen among them.
He commended Corporate Ghana for supporting the exercise and the State Insurance Company (SIC), the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Alomo Bitters, among others, for donating T-shirts, wheelbarrows, shovels, pickaxes and other sanitation logistics to make the exercise successful.