From Inusa Musah
Isaac Djangmah Vanderpuje, Deputy Accra Regional Minister, has charged the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) to enforce its environmental and sanitation by-laws, especially in Tema West.
The Deputy Regional Minister expressed unhappiness at the apathy most residents in Tema West showed during last Saturday’s National Sanitation Exercise. Tema, last Saturday, hosted the Greater Accra sanitation exercise.
The exercise was also used to create awareness on the celebration of the Homowo Festival, which would be held at the Efua Sutherland Park, Accra, and as part of the awareness creation, the Ministry for Culture and Tourism was well represented at the exercise.
Registering his worry at the abysmal turnout by residents in Tema West last Saturday, Mr. Vanderpuje said the attitude of the residents was one that cannot help in the fight against filth and sanitation-related diseases.
It is not the sole responsibility of some class or group of persons to clean the community, he reminded, and added that sicknesses and diseases do not care of one’s class or affluence in society.
To make residents adhere and observe the national clean-up day, therefore, Mr. Isaac Djangmah Vanderpuje said the only ‘rod’ that can get people to be responsible to the cleanliness in their community is the strict enforcement of the assembly’s bylaws on sanitation.
The Minister and his team, including the Metropolitan Chief Executive for Tema, Mr. Isaac Ashai Odamtten, the Paramount Chief for Tema, Nii Adjei Kraku II, and representatives from the Ministry for Culture and Tourism, visited Tema East and Central where the clean-up ‘fever’ was impressive.
Nii Adjei Kraku II lamented how every national activity has been given a political tag, including the National Sanitation Day. According to him, some politicians have distanced themselves and vowed never to part-take in the national clean-up exercise.
“It is very necessary we all put Ghana first in our national lives. If we praise and commend other countries for their beautiful environments, it is because the people collectively agreed to make their country as beautiful as we see and commend them. Ghana, too, can do same if we all will de-politicise national matters,” Nii Kraku II advised.
He said the days when Ghanaians were forced to clean their environments are over, “because we all agreed to practise democracy. Let us not abuse the beauty. Together, we can make Ghana clean and beautiful.”
In a related development, Elder Peter Dolf of the Christ Apostolic International, Ashaiman Lebanon, has condemned the Ghanaian lackadaisical attitude in fighting filth.
Elder Dolf wondered why Ghanaians would have to wait for the government or some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to remind them on the need to keep their own environments and homes clean at all times.
Christ Apostolic International Church, over the last one year, has, as part of its church programmes, a monthly cleanup exercise, and the youth ministry especially, de-silts choked drains in their neighbourhood and the main Lebanon-Zenu School junction drains.
Elder Peter Dolf told The Chronicle that much as the church salutes the government for initiating the monthly National Sanitation Day, he said it behoved on every Ghanaian to know that the government is not responsible for the cleanliness in their various neighbourhoods.
The church was at the Lebanon School junction, Ashaiman, to de-silt drains and raise awareness on the need for a clean Ghana, and Elder Dolf said the Ghanaian ought to learn to keep disposable wastes in their bags until they get to a dustbin where they can drop the litter.
He explained that the Ghanaian’s beautiful physical appearance has always defeated the attitude towards their environments, “and so it’s no wonder we are always battling with malaria and cholera.”
Considering how far Ghana has come with lazy minds in keeping the environment clean, the country will continue to be swallowed by filth, he observed. He said: “We are always conscious of what we wear, but lazy in thinking of keeping our areas clean. Our worship and service to God must replicate in our attitude towards our environment.”
Elder Dolf was of the view that the various assemblies’ inability to prosecute offenders is the misery for the sanitation indiscipline in the country, “and I implore the assemblies to bite a few people and everybody will wake up.” He reminded Ghanaians to re-develop their past communal spirit that saw them compulsorily clean their environments every weekend.
Meanwhile, water was able to freely run through heavily choked drains along the main Ashaiman bus terminal after over a year. Drivers and their mates, including traders, put all hands on deck to de-silt the heavily choked drains during last Saturday’s National Sanitation Day exercise.
Though the drivers heavily partook in the cleaning exercise, no passenger was left stranded at the bus terminal, as a timetable the leadership of the various transport unions prepared was followed to the letter. A similar commitment was shown at the Ashaiman Central Market, where the leadership of the market women urged their women to involve themselves in cleaning their business center.
Several persons continued to show apathy to the exercise, however, the committed ones joined the Ashaiman Assembly to clean their various areas, in a bid to make their areas disease-free. The Coordinating Director for the Ashaiman Assembly, Mr. James Asrifi, expressed delight at the commitment the people showed in de-silting choked drains especially.
Tulaku, Zongo Laka and Roman Down were areas that were badly hit by the last outbreak of cholera, and so Mr Asrifi said the assembly will storm those areas in the next clean-up. He called on all Ghanaians to see clean-up exercises as a need and beautification, reminding them that environmental-related diseases are impartial. He concluded: “Ghana is our home, and it is we who can make or unmake it. Let us take the cleanliness of our community as one of our daily needs.”