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Okyenhene launches sanitation campaign

The Okyenhene,Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin , Life Patron,Cleaner Communities Network(CCN),addressing the media after the launch in Accra. To complement the government’s efforts at improving sanitation, the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, last Wednesday launched a sanitation improvement campaign at a ceremony in Accra.

Dubbed, “Lets Team Up to Clean Up”, the campaign is under the Operation Cleaner and Healthier Communities (OCHC) Initiative, intended to mobilise the business community and civil society resources to share sanitation improvement responsibilities in the country.

A resource mobilisation phase of the initiative will utilise SMS fundraising service, to involve the general public in the project.

A series of electronic and print media promotional campaigns will also be introduced to motivate the public to donate towards the project.

Details of the Campaign

Giving details of the project, the Board Chairman of the Cleaner Communities Network (CCN), Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, said the initiative would consist of a behaviour-changing television programme which would capture over 60 hours of environmental sanitation scenes across the country.

He said some of the scenes to be captured would include the causes and effects of environmental degradation, leadership standards, best practices and sustainable solutions.

In addition, he said, obstacles to achieving optimal service delivery such as people’s beliefs, attitudes and habits which were not supportive of health promoting practices would be captured.

Professor Akosa said to actively engage the public; there would be quarterly competitions among selected communities, for which those who kept their environment clean would be awarded.

He impressed on the general public to partake in the campaign to make the country clean.

Challenges

The Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Akwasi Opong-Fosu, who launched the campaign, said although there had been some improvement in sanitation, some challenges remained.

These challenges, he said, included inappropriate sanitation practices, uncontrolled urbanisation and the huge solid waste management costs.

Mr Opong Fosu, therefore, lauded the initiative which sought to improve sanitation locally. “Let us all embrace the campaign and make it successful and sustainable,” he urged.

The Deputy Minister of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, Mr John Alexander Ackon, in his remarks commended the organisers of the initiative, saying, “this is to prove that chiefs indeed have a role to play in the development agenda of the country.”

He also urged other chiefs to take a cue from the initiative by tackling other issues such as kayaye, child trafficking, among other related issues.

Okyenhene’s Address

In an address, Osagyefo Amoatia said it was unacceptable that more than 75 per cent of infant deaths resulted from sanitation and hygiene related diseases.

He said, it was also disturbing that about 70 per cent of the overall disease burden in the country was related to poor sanitation and lack of hygiene.

The Okyenhene was optimistic that good sanitation would result in increased productivity and yield some economic benefits for the country.

Additionally, he said, improved sanitation would promote tourism. “That is all things being equal, tourists prefer to visit clean beaches that are visually pleasant rather than those with an abundance of marine litter,” he stressed.

By Zainabu Issah & Lydia Ezit/Daily Graphic/Ghana

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