Students partake in National Sanitation Day clean-up exercise
Students of the Sefwi-Asawinso Senior High School (SHS) in the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipality in the Western Region last Saturday overwhelmed other participants engaged in the National Sanitation Day (NSD) clean-up exercise with their youthful exuberance.
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The unexpected presence of the students, numbering about 200 and exhibiting great force and energy, took the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Alhaji Collins Dauda, and other dignitaries by surprise. The excited students cleared weeds and swept the entire community, including the markets and their school compound.
They were supported actively by other members of the community, personnel from Zoomlion Company Limited and staff of the Sefwi-Wiawso municipal assembly.
As of 10 a.m., the entire Sefwi-Wiawso Municipality had been cleared of filth.
Alhaji Dauda told newsmen after the exercise that the level of enthusiasm exhibited by the students and the community was ample proof that the NSD had come to stay.
He said the turnout of people in Sefwi-Wiawso indicated that people had come to accept that the exercise was not being done to please the government but that it was rather for the welfare of the citizenry.
"This is what we all need to do to develop our country," he said.
About NSD
The NSD exercise was instituted by the ministry of local government and rural development under the directive of President John Dramani Mahama, in October 2015. It takes place on the first Saturday of every month.
It was introduced to control indiscriminate dumping of refuse and littering as well as revive the culture and essence of communal labour in the country.
The NSD was introduced to also promote public and environmental health and to encourage good sanitation practices in the country.
Similar exercises were held across the country. In Accra, the day’s exercise was guided by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) with support from the Mohinani Group of Companies.
Focus next year
According to Alhaji Dauda, next year the focus of the exercise would be on household toilet facilities to help address the problem of open defecation in the country.
He said the government was passionate about addressing the problem of sanitation in the country because without proper sanitation, the entire nation would be exposed to cholera.
The minister of local government and rural development called on chiefs and opinion leaders to help sustain the exercise, since they were the reliable and principal support on which the people depended.
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, who also took part in the clean-up exercise, urged the people to take the project as their own and not wait for government officials to come from Accra before they got involved in the exercise.
He stressed the need for Ghanaians to show concern for the environment and ensure that it was healthy in its attempt to achieve its economic goals.
The Chief of Sefwi-Asafo, Nana Kofi Ahenkora and the Ankobeahene of Sefwi-Wiawso Traditional Area, Nana Adu Kwesi II, pledged to assist to control indiscriminate dumping of refuse in their communities..
AMA sanctions
There was a low turnout of people for the exercise in Accra.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Director of Waste Management Services of the AMA, Mr Anthony Mensah, said the assembly intended to impose sanctions on people who refused to participate in the monthly clean-up exercise in the metropolis.
Some of the sanctions, he said, may include fines or prosecution in court to answer for failure to participate in the exercise.