Do not abandon National Sanitation Day — MP

The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ledzokuku Constituency, in the Greater Accra Region, Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, has asked Ghanaians not to abandon the National Sanitation Day (NSD) because there is a change in government.

He is of the view that the NSD must be sustained to keep the environment clean and safe.

He has, therefore, encouraged the citizens to participate in the exercise to make it a success.

“I have bought into the idea of the NSD, although it was started by the previous government, I believe that it is a laudable idea which should be continued and not abandoned,” he said.

Dr Okoe Boye made the call when he joined residents of Teshie to observe the NSD for April last Saturday.

Leader

According to him, a leader should live by example, as such there was the need for him to always observe the sanitation day with  residents.

He explained that cleaning could be done by anyone irrespective of one’s position.

Dr Okoe Boye admonished the residents to make it their responsibility to clean the environment frequently, rather than wait for the sanitation day in order to prevent diseases associated with filth.

As a medical doctor, he said he believed that filth could bring about preventable diseases and, therefore, the need to educate people on such diseases, to enable them, understand the consequences of their actions and inactions on the environment.

Negligence

The Chief Environmental Health Officer at LEKMA, Ms Grace Nancy Adaata, said her outfit would ensure that people who did not participate in the next cleaning exercise would be made to face the law,since some residents were reluctant to observe the NSD.

“We would announce the next exercise  a week earlier for everybody to be aware. We would come to the place with a task force to close all the shops that are opened before the exercise, while we send the owners to court, because it is the law and should be obeyed,” she said.