The Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs (MLGCRA) has commissioned and handed over sanitation cleaning tools and equipment to the 29 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) in the Greater Accra Region.
The items, which included 550 waste bins, 970 rakes, 1,000 shovels, 1,600 hand gloves, 120 wellington boots, 1,000 long brooms and 100 wheelbarrows, are intended to enhance the operational capacity of the (MMDAs) to undertake routine and emergency sanitation activities, to improve the effectiveness of monthly clean-up exercises under the National Sanitation Day, to encourage environmental health officers and sanitation staff in enforcing sanitation standards and ultimately contribute to cleaner communities, safer environments and healthier populations across the Greater Accra Region.
The Deputy Minister of MLGCRA, Rita Naa Odoley Sowah, who presented the equipment to the metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) of the assemblies yesterday, explained that the items had been carefully selected to respond to the practical sanitation needs of MMDAs and to complement existing resources at the district level.
Pillar
Ms Sowah said environmental sanitation remained one of the most critical pillars of public health, urban resilience and sustainable development, pointing out that the challenges people faced, ranging from indiscriminate waste disposal to flooding, cholera outbreaks and environmental degradation, required deliberate investment, strong leadership and operational readiness, especially at the district level.
She said the government, for its part, had demonstrated renewed resolve in that regard through the reintroduction and institutionalisation of the National Sanitation Day; the allocation of dedicated resources for sanitation activities and the continuous strengthening of MMDAs to deliver their sanitation mandates.
Ms Sowah said, while the government had made this investment, results would only be achieved if the equipment was used responsibly, effectively, efficiently and for the intended purpose.
She, therefore, charged the MMDCEs to provide the necessary leadership and oversight on the use of the items and for coordinating directors to ensure proper asset management and accountability.
For environmental health officers, she charged them to deploy the tools effectively in improving sanitation outcomes in their respective jurisdictions.
“Let me emphasise that these assets must be properly documented, adequately secured and properly used to justify the confidence the government has placed in our local authorities,” she said.
She urged all stakeholders to work collaboratively to sustain the gains of National Sanitation Day, promote behavioural change at the community level and build a culture of cleanliness, responsibility and environmental stewardship, adding that sanitation was not the responsibility of the government alone, but one that required the collective effort of assemblies, traditional authorities, religious leaders, community leaders, the private sector, civil society and the entire citizenry.
Why Accra
The Chief Director of the ministry, Alhaji Amin Abdul-Rahaman, explained that the ministry decided to restrict the distribution of the equipment to MMDAs in the Greater Accra Region for now because Accra was the first port of call to the country; therefore, if it was clean, visitors would pick up a positive image about Ghana.
He said later, when the ministry had more resources, it would reach out to the other regions with similar equipment.
The Dean of the Greater Accra MMDCEs, Daniel Narh Sowah, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, expressed gratitude to the ministry and gave an assurance that the equipment and tools would be put to good use in order to make Accra, which was considered the gateway to Ghana, cleaner.
Source:
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