The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim, has urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to make sanitation a continuous priority rather than limiting clean-up efforts to designated national exercises.
During a post–National Sanitation Day inspection at some Municipal Assemblies, the Minister assessed the progress of clean-up activities amid complaints that waste collected during the exercise had not been promptly evacuated in some areas.
He acknowledged that although the 2-Day National Sanitation exercise is not enough, efforts are underway to make it regular.
“As we are all aware, the cleanup exercise marks the beginning of a much broader operational effort. Since then, substantial mop up activities are being continued across all affected areas. So even though the president directed that we do it for two days, we are still going to continue,” the Minister said.
The Minister also stressed that MMDAs have the primary responsibility for maintaining clean communities and should not wait for other agencies to remove waste before acting.
While some drains had been desilted, others remained clogged with refuse, and portions of roads have bushy medians.
Local Government officials outlined ongoing interventions, including regular desilting of drains and intensified sanitation enforcement, while some traders welcomed the exercise, saying cleaner surroundings create a healthier environment and support business activities.
“There is a particular area that there are a lot of squatters with a drain that is choked. So as part of effort to ensure that we don’t experience this flooding the next time, because that particular area about 11 people died. Currently, the place has been marked for demolition and we have given them the deadline, Thursday and they are supposed to evacuate from the place after which the Assembly will go there and carry out the demolition,” the Municipal Environmental Officer for the Ga East Municipal Assembly, Ing. Charles Asabre Ampomah explained.
The Ministry says it will continue monitoring compliance and work with local authorities to ensure sanitation remains a sustained effort beyond National Sanitation Day.
Some of the areas the Minister toured included the Korley Klottey, Ga East, Adentan, La Nkwantanagn Madina, and Ayawaso West Municipalities.
