The second edition of the nationwide cleaning exercise which came off Saturday, still did not receive the expected patronage from the public in some areas of Accra.
The local government Ministry initiated the campaign in November 2014 to rid the country of filth after several hundreds of people died from a cholera outbreak.
Many Ghanaians did not participate in the exercise in November, prompting officials of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to put in more measures to whip up interest in subsequent months.
[contextly_sidebar id=”L9SFDmzqBLbKEiAxiXx7ptB7rKuxbmGi”]Public Relations Officer of the Assembly, Nuumo Blafo told Citi News in an earlier interview that the Assembly was dissatisfied with the initial turnout.
“Shops were opened while they should be closed and refuse were left on the shoulders of the roads… We have added two tipper trucks to collect the filth gathered on the shoulders of the road. We have sent out enough information ahead of the second exercise,” he said.
However, Citi News checks on some streets of Accra showed there turn out did not improve.
Citi News reporter Eugenia Tenkorang who visited some areas in Adabraka in Accra, including Odawna and the Adabraka market reported that very few people participated in the national event.
At Odawna, close to the Odawna Clinic, there was only one person, Kofi Sarfo who was cleaning dirty and choked drain.
Kofi Sarfo had no gloves, boots, nose covers or other protective equipment or cleaning tools.
According to him, the few people helping him out could only have their turn when he was tired.
Meanwhile, refuse gathered on the shoulders of the streets from the November 1 exercise had still not been carted.
An onlooker, Kwesi Manu claimed people were not taking part in the exercise because the government had not shown enough commitment towards it.
“See, all these refuse are what we collected from the last time. This shouldn’t be so. The refuse need to be carted immediately while we work. Otherwise, they will be flown back into the gutters…work done is zero”, he complained, while pointing to the little heaps of refuse lined up along the gutters.
Meanwhile the General Manager of Jekora Ventures, a leading Waste Management Company, in Ghana Emmanuel Nartey Tokoli fears the National Sanitation Day may not last beyond a year.
Speaking to Citi News during a clean-up exercise at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra, Emmanuel Nartey Tokoli said the inability of local assemblies to complement their efforts by enforcing bye-laws on sanitation would make the exercise counter-productive.
“People will take advantage, keep their refuse and they will not register with any waste management company because they know in a month’s time, something will be done, then they will bring them out,” he said.
The same situation was witnessed at the Adabraka market. Most of the women traders were seated by their goods at a time the exercise was supposed to be underway.
A few others were sweeping and scrubbing the gutters in the market. One of these was a middle age woman, Yaa Achaa Acheampong, sweating from the work she was doing,
She told Citi News, “We are cleaning our market just as the government has told us to. However, we have received no equipment from the AMA. We are doing this all by ourselves. I have spent about GHC2 fetching water to clean the gutter here”.
Secretary of the Adabraka Market women, Elizabeth Naadey Neequaye said they were happy the government has set up a day for a nationwide cleaning exercise.
She revealed that some traders were at the market as early as 5am to participate in the exercise. She however pleaded with the Assembly to provide them with disinfectant for use on such occasions.
By: Eugenia Tenkorang/citifmonline.com/Ghana