From Alfred Adams
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In the last two National Sanitation Day (NSD) exercises carried out in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis and its environs, one thing that has been clear and had adverse effects on the exercise is the active involvement of elected assembly members.
In the Takoradi City and other communities, as monitored by the Western File, the inactiveness of Assembly Members in the national exercise has also contributed to the non-active involvement of other persons. For now, since the members were declared person non-grata in the various assemblies, following the expiry of their tenure of their office, they have not played an active role in the exercise.
This was evidently clear in the last exercise carried out in the Sekondi-Takoradi City. The non-involvement of the assembly members did not only lead to the late start of the exercise, but also there were no logistics available to carry out the exercise. That apart, people were apathetic to join the exercise.
The exercise started as late as 10 o’clock in the morning as a result of the late arrival of logistics, such as shovels, brooms, buckets and water, amongst others, needed to carry out the exercise. It had to take the Regional Minister, Paul Evans Aidoo, to dip his hand into his pocket to buy brooms for the start of the exercise.
This sad development has come as a result of the non-participation of the assembly members. It is believed that if the assembly members’ term of office had not expired, they could play a key role in making the National Sanitation Day exercise achieve its purpose. For instance, the members could gather their electorates to partake in the exercise, and that would have ensured the success of the exercise.
In an interview with some assembly members, they did not only hide their belief that the success of the NSD exercise largely depended on them, and that success could not be achieved without their active participation. One of the assembly members, who did not want to be named, contributing, said most of them had decided to distance themselves in the exercise following the revocation of their office.
“There is no doubt that the success of the NSD depends on we Assembly Members. However, having been told that our term of office has come to an end, it will be difficult for us to actively involve ourselves in the exercise.” The Assembly Member for East Tanokrom, George Adarkwa, told this file that he felt uncomfortable joining the exercise, more so organising his electorate.
Adarkwa believes that if the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) had not hurriedly announced the end of tenure of office of assembly members, the apathy and cold feet developed towards the NSD exercise would have been arrested. This was because each assembly member would have been responsible for the cleaning of his electoral area, with the support of the electorate.
