ADRA honours three Gomoa communities for cleanliness

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency-Ghana (ADRA-Ghana), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has honoured three communities in the Gomoa District for maintaining environmental cleanliness.

Gomoa Ngyiresi, Gomoa Ajumako and Gomoa Osedze were selected from 24 communities in the District the NGO was operating in.

They were presented with sanitary tools and equipment including dustbins, wheelbarrows and rakes while the Environmental Officers in-charge of the communities were presented with cash prizes.

The ceremony, which was held at Gomoa Ngyiresi formed part of the activities marking the Environmental Day organised by the Winneba Operational Area of ADRA on the theme, "Clean Environmen, Key to Good Health".

Mr Evans Manu-Frimpong, a Field Officer of ADRA, said the organisation had spent over 2.5 billion cedis on a number of projects and programmes to reduce poverty and improve the standard of living in the 24 communities especially in the areas of sanitation, health and agriculture.

Miss Victoria Tettey, Central Regional Field Officer in-charge of Health and Nutrition, said the United States, Agency for International Development (USAID) was sponsoring ADRA to intensify its health education programme.

She urged the people to desist from littering the environment since the habit had an adverse effect on their health.

Mrs Grace Osei-Assibey, Winneba Operational Area Co-ordinator for Health and Nutrition, advised communities to plant trees to protect the environment and to serve as windbreaks during rainstorms.

Mr Raphael Numor, Gomoa District Environmental Officer, noted that there had been cases of cholera leading over the past seven months leading to some death in the District as a result of poor sanitation.

He stated that diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, worm infection, typhoid fever and diarrhoea related diseases constitutes 60 per cent of all out-patient department cases in the District.

Ms Joyce Aidoo, District Chief Executive (DCE), advised the people to attend such functions to improve their standard of living. The DCE said the Assembly had spent huge sums of money to clear refuse dumps in some communities and appealed to Chiefs to offer land for refuse dump sites.