Saving Accra from filth: Contribution from the Prison Service

Mandated to ensure the safe custody and welfare of inmates in the various prison establishments, the Prisons Service was undoubtedly the sole institution that effectively made sanitation an issue of discussion in the previous year.

The “Clean Ghana Project” is an initiative to make the nation’s capital and other regional capitals free from filth and attractive to all who visit the motherland.

It is a collaboration between the Prisons Service and Africa’s finest sanitation and waste management hub, Zoomlion Ghana Limited. In 2019, the exercise rolled out with convincing number of inmates who were qualified for labour outside the prison walls and experienced escort officers who made sure that all highways, busy road stretches and major drainage systems were cleaned for the 12 months period.

The exercise included distilling of chocked gutters by the streets, weeding of grass and weeds along the shoulders of the roads, disposing of abandoned rubbish on the streets and sweeping and collection of sand on the streets as well as white washing of major round-abouts in the city.

The notable areas that witnessed these serene changes included the Tema motorway-stretch to Achimota overhead, Lapaz to Mallam Junction, Shiashie, Legon to Adenta Barrier, Nkrumah Circle, Abeka Junction to Ofankor lorry station. Other locations were Kaneshie market to McCarthy Hills Junction, La Beach road to Danquah Circle, American House, Underbridge to Spintex round-about.

The Project continues this year with strategic dynamics to clean every busy stretch of road with filth and chocked drains.

The inmates are purposely brought to the streets to work and return to their facility after work. Any benevolence or kind gestures should be channelled through the escort officers present at the field of work or sent to the James Camp Prison facility.