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Sanitation exercise

Millennium Marathon disrupts sanitation exercise in Accra

The first ever Millennium Marathon held in Accra on Saturday impacted negatively on the National Sanitation Day exercise in the city.

The National Sanitation Day is marked on the first Saturday of every month but last Saturday’s exercise coincided with the Millennium Marathon, which recorded a high patronage with an equally large crowd of spectators.

When the Daily Graphic visited the routes for the 5km marathon, it was observed that residents of those areas were more interested in the race than participating in the sanitation exercise.

The marathon, which commenced from the Independence Square through some principal streets of Accra and back to the Independence Square, attracted thousands of runners both locally and internationally.

Participants in the race littered the routes, which included the Osu Oxford Street, with empty bottles of water.

Apathy 

A resident of Osu, Madam Naa Dodoo, stated that the race, which started as early as 6:00a.m. did not make it possible for them to clean their surroundings.

She said the race, which was the first to be organised in the country, excited residents.

Madam Dodoo claimed that because they had not been supplied with waste bins, the debris collected from the drains were usually left on the streets.

AMA

In an interview, the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, said the assembly had for the past month been organising clean-up exercises in the areas slated for the marathon to prepare those areas for the race.

“We envisioned that on the race day, residents in those areas would not participate in the NSD.”

He also stated that a cleaning crew had been put in place to clean the areas which had been littered with empty bottles and rubbish.

Dr Vanderpuije expressed gratitude to Ghanaians for patronising the race, adding: “It is our commitment to increase the number of participants from 10,000 this year to 20,000 next year.” 

Emmanuel Baah reports from Kumasi that last Saturday’s sanitation exercise was held at the Kumasi Central and Atonsu markets with officials of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and Zoomlion Company Limited leading the campaign.

They were joined by personnel of the security services to clear garbage on the roads and pavements and also desilt choked gutters.

The Co-ordinating Director of the KMA, Mr Michael Ataogye, led the clean-up exercise.

Kumasi market

Mr Ataogye told journalists after the exercise that the sanitation team would continue to clean the central market as the high patronage resulted in heaped garbage and choked gutters.

He said vigorous cleaning of the central market would help keep foodstuff and meat wholesome for the general public’s consumption.

He, however, expressed worry about the apathy on the part of traders, adding that if the people continued to be adamant about the sanitation exercise, the assembly would revise its bye-laws and sanctions accordingly.

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