Source: Ben LARYEA
As part of the effort to keep environmental cleanliness in the communities, the Municipal Office of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in collaboration with Ayawaso North Municipal Assembly has organised a day stakeholder engagement with members of the communities.
The gesture is geared towards the sensitisation of the citizenry on the need to cultivate good sanitation practices for healthy hygienic growth for development.
Present at the meeting were opinion leaders, Imams, Assembly and Unit committee members, Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Heads of educational institutions and other bodies in the sanitation value chain.
Addressing the gathering, the Deputy Municipal Environmental Health Officer of the Assembly, Mr. Isaac A. Wakah reminded the public on the drive to sustain the campaign on keeping their surroundings clean from the outbreak of diseases and explained that “it is through filth that the communities could be confronted with all manner of sickness.
He advised people to refrain from littering and stop also the throwing of solid waste into drains, adding that the habit ends up choking the gutters which limits the free flow of waste water.
He added that humans generate a lot of solid waste particularly polythene bags and plastics of all kinds saying the said items are indiscriminately thrown or dumped anywhere and however pointed out that they do not decay but come with environmental challenges in our surroundings.
Mr. Isaac Wakah urged households to register with waste management contractors through the Assembly for easy transportation of refuse to the designated dumping sites and was quick to state that the byelaws of the Assembly is still in operation.
“I urge all landlords who do not have toilet facilities in their respective households to engage the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) sanitation and toilet project for funds and logistics for the provision of toilet facility”, he stressed.
For her part, the Municipal Director of National Commission for Civil Education (NCCE), Ayawaso North Municipal Assembly Mrs Eunice Nkrumah called on schools in the municipality to separate waste in various bins and hinted that companies buys plastics for the production of plastic related items and further said “there is wealth creation in plastics”.
She advised food vendors to stop the habit of dumping food waste into gutters and disclosed that people who break the byelaws of the Assembly will be prosecuted accordingly and however called on the Management of Ghana Private Road Transport Union to install litter bins at vantage point of transport terminals.
She thus urged the sanitation force of the Assembly to continue to embark on routine exercise on sanitation in households as well as the communities.
In a remark, the Assistant Environmental Health Analyst, Mr. Jacob Emmanuel Tetteh advised the citizenry to separate waste into different bins for easy access to waste collectors, saying it reduces the rapid increase in waste generation and further added that solid waste such as plastics can be sold to companies to produce household items.
According to him, consistent segregation of solid waste will lead to a drastic reduction of plastic in the drains and the community at large.
The Chairman of the Ayawaso Council of Zongo Chiefs, Imoro Baba Issah challenged Chiefs in the Communities to add their voices to the campaign on environmental cleanliness adding they play a significant role in the advocacy on sanitation.
He expressed his gratitude to NCCE and the Assembly for their education on sanitation and its related programmes and activities in the communities.
