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Regional News of Saturday, 30 October 2004

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Accra to be cleaned today

About 1,000 people from local Churches and Schools in the Kaneshie-Bubiashie area would today, Saturday October 30, embark on a massive cleanup exercise to rid the area of plastic waste. The exercise, mooted by the North Kaneshie Amazing Grace Women Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and President's Special Initiative and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, would use the occasion to sensitise traders and hawkers, especially sachet water sellers, on the growing threats that inappropriate waste disposal posed to the health of the populace.
"Operation Keep Your Surrounding Clean and Stay Healthier for Productivity - The Challenges and the Way Forward" has been chosen as the theme for the exercise.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on Monday, Ms Doris Frimpong, President of the Foundation, said the problem of indiscriminate disposal of plastic waste was becoming a culture in people's lives, which needed to be addressed with all the seriousness it deserved.
She said unfortunately, only about two per cent of plastic waste generated daily in Accra was recycled.
"Cleaning of our surroundings is our civic, religious and social responsibility and we should be seen living by that to rid our communities of plastic wastes that have contributed largely to the effects of environmental pollution and diseases," Ms Frimpong said. Statistics available indicate that it costs the Accra Metropolitan Assembly 2.2 billion cedis a month to clean the city of Accra.