Mr Issahaku Tahiru Moomin, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) FOR Wa has called on the people of the municipality to change their negative attitude towards sanitation issues to help prevent the outbreak of sanitation-related diseases.
He said matters of sanitation were of public health concern hence the need for them to imbibe the culture of environmental cleanliness.
Mr Moomin, who made the call in Wa at the weekend when the Wa Municipal Assembly organised a clean-up exercise within the municipality, said “A clean environment promotes good health therefore we have to ensure at any point in time that the municipality and all surroundings are clean”.
The assembly collaborated with other institutions including the Zoomlion Ghana Ltd and the Ghana National Fire Service to clean public places including the Wa Central Business District and desilt gutters.
Security personnel from the Ghana Police Service and the Military were also present to ensure compliance as all business activities were expected to halt within the period.
“We are targeting those with negative attitudes (towards sanitation) with a different approach to come out next time. What we are doing today is not going to be a nine-day wonder.
“When you are dealing with the attitudinal issue you don’t use force, so you have to appeal to the conscience of the people and try to eliminate the tendencies that are building up that attitude so that next time everyone can come on board”, Mr Moomin explained.
He added that the assembly would conduct a review on the clean-up exercise to identify the challenges for redress, and said it would be a regular activity.
On his part, Mr Karim Topie, the Presiding Member of the Wa Municipal Assembly, entreated the people to see environmental cleanliness as their responsibility and to not wait for someone to force them to clean their environment.
“We want that people should cultivate the habit of cleaning regularly. We don’t want to use force because when you apply force and anytime the force is missing it means the work will not be done”, He explained.
Similarly, Info Radio’s Action for Clean Communities (A4CC) project team also mobilized to clean some areas in the Kpaguri residential area to help improve the sanitation situation of the area.