A blueprint that will address insanitary conditions, especially in metropolises, to prevent cholera has been unveiled in Koforidua.
The blueprint, an initiative of the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Julius Debrah, will also involve the construction of houses provided with the required sanitary facilities using local materials to meet the pockets of ordinary Ghanaians.
Under the initiative, investors will partner assemblies, taking into consideration the raw materials in their areas, to offer employment to the youth.
Focus
Addressing the media shortly after the end of a day’s seminar on sanitation, Mr Debrah said the blueprint would focus on sensitising communities to how best to make the environment clean.
That, he indicated, was because despite the huge amount the government had been spending to clear refuse, not much had been achieved.
“We have done a lot in refuse collection but some of the cities and towns are still not clean because as soon as the refuse is cleared, the people litter again so we are going to mount series of educational campaigns to address the issue.”
“These will include periodic use of the ministry’s vans with loud speakers to drum home the need to keep the environment clean, especially at the markets, topping it up with clean-up exercises on every first Saturday of the month which will involve traders, pupils and students as well as religious leaders who are expected to use the pulpit and the mosque to disseminate information on cleanliness.”
Local materials
Mr Debrah indicated that the construction of affordable houses with the requisite sanitation facilities, using solely local materials, which was recently launched in Tamale, would go a long way to help solve the housing deficit in the country.
Owners of old houses without places of convenience, according to Mr Debrah, would be assisted with funds to be repaid at reasonable rates to put up such facilities.
World Bank support
Mr Debrah stated that a number of development partners such as the World Bank would provide $150 million to support the implementation of the initiative.
He said the measures outlined would enhance the living standards of the people within the next two years, and called for support from the public.
Mr Nii Lante Vanderpuye and Mr Kwadwo Agyekum, both deputy ministers of Local Government and Rural Development, and Mr Antwi Boasiako Sekyere, the Eastern Regional Minister, who were at the event, took turns to highlight many aspects of good sanitation.
They asked the metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives to play their expected roles to clean their areas.
