Fallout from NPP National Delegates’ Conference
Undoubtedly, the New Patriotic Party's (NPP’s) National Delegates’ Conference was a successful one. However, one critical challenge was the effective management of sanitation.
Organising such a mammoth national delegates’ conference, the expectation was that adequate bins would have been provided to ensure that rubbish was properly disposed. But that was not the case. After the elections at the Koforidua Technical University, the grounds were heavily littered.
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On Sunday morning after the election, the main event site where the voting took place, the food court and entertainment area, as well as the main road in front of the Koforidua Technical University, were badly littered.
Waste materials largely made up of empty food packs, bottles, sachet water, cartons and other waste materials were scattered all over the place.
When the Daily Graphic visited the venue last Sunday morning, some service providers made up of Zoomlion Ghana Ltd, Gitex and Satisfactory Cleaning Services were clearing the filth.
Poor Ghanaian attitude
Some residents and drivers the Daily Graphic spoke to blamed the development on the poor Ghanaian attitude towards the environment.
A driver, Moses Yankey, said: "If adults can litter in this manner, then what moral authority do we have to chastise children for doing same?".
He noted that it was time all Ghanaians changed their attitude and stopped littering indiscriminately.
Alhaji Bodinga
The Eastern Regional First Vice Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bodinga, who is a member of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), told the Daily Graphic that the committee had put together ad hoc sanitation officers made up of party loyalists and Zoomlion Ghana Ltd to take care of the sanitation management.
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"I can assure you that by tomorrow, we would have cleared everything and the place will look new again,” he stated.
Satisfactory Cleaning Services
Satisfactory Cleaning Services had volunteered to offer the cleaning services to the party in order to get the experience which came with cleaning services for such mass events.
However, its Managing Director, Mr William Boadu, arrived in Koforidua last Friday evening ill-informed about the type of cleaning services required of him.
"I thought it will be indoors. We were looking at a conference place like the national theatre. I was asked on Friday evening to take care of the main conference area so quickly I had to restrategise to handle it.
"Yesterday, the volume of work we did here, we didn't anticipate it. Our preparation was not meant for a big area like this ", he explained.
Gitex
The Technical Director of Gitex, Mr Franklin Odame, however, told the Daily Graphic the situation was not abnormal since an estimated 12,000 people out of which 6,000 were delegates converged on the place.
Gitex, which he said was about two-years-old, deployed 150 people to the conference.
He explained, however, that they were responsible for the various hotels, including the GETFund hostel on the Koforidua University campus, Pope Johns and others.
According to him, 200 litter bins were provided by the Zoomlion Ghana Ltd and the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Eric Kwakye Daffour.
He said the company was also responsible for manning the 30 mobile toilet cabins.
Aside that, Gitex, he said, provided hand sanitisers at the entrance to the main conference grounds.
Zoomlion Ghana Ltd
The Regional Manager of the Zoomlion Ghana Ltd, Mr George Aguadze, for his part, said the company was initially restricted in accessing the venue.
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However, since the conference was over, it had deployed 150 of its personnel to immediately clean the entire area.
According to him, the workers started work at about 5:00 a.m last Sunday from the bus stop of the Koforidua Technical University all the way to the Bedtime Hotel.
"We are tackling the whole place", he stated.