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General News of Friday, 23 August 2002

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Street cleaning trucks launched in Accra

THE Minister of Private Sector Development, Mr Kwamena Bartels, has launched six street cleaning trucks in Accra.

The $1 million project, which is the first mechanised street cleaning programme in the country, is an initiative of Set Squares Limited, a private construction company based in Accra.

Mr Coster Cordonis, Warranty Manager in-charge of training at Schwarze Industries, USA, the manufacturers of the machines is already in the country to train staff of Set Squares Limited on how to operate and maintain the equipment. The machines, six in number, have the mechanism for cleaning streets and drains and thus reduce the incidence of malaria in the metropolis.

They can pick metallic objects such as nails and pieces of iron from the streets thereby making the roads safe for motoring.

Launching the programme, Mr Bartels expressed the government’s support for the bold initiatives adopted by the company and said, “All these attributes of the vehicle will help to improve sanitation tremendously in our cities to boost tourism.”

Capt Nkrabea Effah-Dartey (rtd), the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, charged all metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to find pragmatic ways of improving sanitation in their areas of jurisdiction. Mr Steven K. Ampofo, Managing Director of Set Squares Limited, urged all to make strenuous efforts at improving sanitation in their various communities since government alone cannot do it.