Ayawaso communities undertake clean-up

Accra, Dec 2, GNA- The Government has adopted a policy to improve sanitation in the Accra Metropolis by employing energetic people to clean the city on daily basis, beginning next January. The cleaners would also act as watchdogs to check the throwing of refuse into drains.

Sheikh Ibrahim Codjoe Quaye, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, who announced this in Accra, said Government was also to come out with a package to give skills training and credit to the youth in the Region. Sheikh Quaye announced the moves when he led residents in the Nima, Alajo, New Town, Agbajena and Mallam Atta and Kotobabi communities within the Central Ayawaso Constituency in a clean-up exercise, as a part of the activities of the communities in marking this year's National Farmers' Day 2005. The exercise, which was supported by Scorpion Travel and Tours, and Accra Nima Keep Fit Club, U-Safe, Pepsi and Fan Milk Limited included the de-silting of choked gutters along the major streets in the Constituency.

With drumming and dancing in the background, the residents, donning tee- shirts, scooped out rubbish from the gutters and emptied them into standby containers, making the streets look spick and span. In an interaction with the cleaners, Sheik Quaye, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Central Ayawaso Constituency, saluted Ghanaian farmers for producing food to feed the nation, saying the nation lived by their sweat and toil. He however, said it was risky for food to be eaten in dirty environments and called on the residents of the city to make it a personal responsibility rather that relying on the city authorities to keep the city clean.

Sheikh Quaye said Accra's poor sanitation stemmed from the pressure put on the city, as a hub of business, adding that about 500,000 people entered the city everyday and left behind a huge amount of filth. He re-echoed the need to keep the urroundings clean, urging the youth to take get actively involved to rid the city of filth in the wake of recent reported cases of cholera. The Regional Minister said the clean-up exercise was being replicated in the 13 constituencies in the Region.

Mr. Prince Aikins Sani, Vice President of the Tour Operators Union of Ghana, said the clean-up, the second that had been organised in the Constituency, was also to raise awareness on sanitation in the Zongo communities and to reduce the mosquito population and to check malaria infestation.