Minister unhappy about maiden sanitation day

Mr Julius Debrah, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), has expressed unhappiness about the outcome of the maiden National Sanitation Day (NSD) exercise held on Saturday, November 1.

He said although measures are in place to make it a success, it was met with setback due to the lack of zeal for communal labour among the citizenry.

Mr Debrah said this in Accra on Wednesday when he paid courtesy call on Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) and MTN Ghana, to discuss pragmatic ways to help restructure subsequent NSD exercises.

The visit aimed at promoting collaborative efforts among the MLGRD, GPCC and MTN Ghana to collectively put new innovative ideas together through their services and church programmes.

Mr Debrah noted that going by the lessons learnt after the maiden NSD exercise, it is time other stakeholders get involved in the project for diverse views to be adopted and used in helping to make the initiative a success especially when Ghana has been ranked among the bottom 10 dirty countries by the United Nations Sanitation Report.

He pledged more stake holders involvement and appealed to the GPCC as well as other religious bodies to take it upon themselves to get their church members involved in the sanitation works of the country for a healthy living environment to prevail in the country.

The sector minister also urged the public to make sanitation be part of their everyday lifestyle and also see the NSD as a communal exercise that has come to rid the country off filth.

He noted that filth is the result of the recent cholera outbreak in the country.

Apostle Dr Opoku Onyinah, Chairman, GPCC expressed worry about the unhygienic practices amongst citizens and pledged the council’s support in helping to make the goals of NSD initiative worthwhile.

He hailed the minister for the constructive measures adopted to make the country clean, called for better public education for the public to recognise the need for the NSD for Ghana to be recognised wholly as the gateway to Africa not only democratically but in cleanliness as well.

Apostle Onyinah also called on the Town and Country Planning Department to be involved extensively in the NSD for the country’s betterment.

Mrs Cynthia Lumor, Corporate Services Executive, MTN, said the initiative is important especially when it goes right into the focus of the MTN Health Initiative, which is a recycling sustainability initiative that seeks to get rid of filth in the country.

She pledged MTN Ghana’s support in collaborating with the minister for the NSD goals to be materialised.

The NSD, which seeks to promote community ownership and herald sound environmental sanitation practices throughout the country, is observed every first Saturday of the month.