Western Region launches pre-flooding cleaning exercise

Effiakuma (W/R), May 9, GNA - Madam Betty Bosomtwi-Sam, Deputy Western Regional Minister, on Saturday called

on people in the region to re-kindle the communal spirit to facilitate government's environmental and health goals. Launching the Regional Pre-flooding Cleaning Exercise at Effiakuma near Takoradi, she said there was the need for

the people to participate in clean-up campaigns and other environmental programmes to keep their communities clean

at all times and to promote their health. Madam Bosomtwi-Sam said clean environment and good life styles are pre-requisite to good health and it is for

these reasons that it must be everybody's concern that their homes and immediate environment are kept clean and tidy. Madam Bosomtwi-Sam said drains must be kept clean particularly during the raining season to forestall

environmental disasters such as flooding. She noted that some floods and other disasters are man-made because people intentionally litter the environment

with refuse and human excreta in drains and other waterways. Madam Bosomtwi-Sam said others build on waterways with impunity, thus blocking the flow of water during heavy

rains and causing flooding. She urged the people to identify flood prone areas in their vicinities and take appropriate steps to find solutions to

the problem. Mr. Kobina Pra Annan, Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Chief Executive, said government alone cannot shoulder the

task of safeguarding the environment and as a result, individuals and communities must get on board through

communal labour. Mr. Annan commended the communal spirit of the youth at Effiakuma. Mr. Japhet Baidoo, Regional Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation, spoke of the economic

cost of flooding and other disasters to the government, besides the trauma it caused to victims. He said last year, government spent about 600,000 Ghana Cedis on relief items nationwide with 157,000 Ghana

Cedis of the amount expended on the region. Mr. Baidoo said pre-flooding cleaning exercise would be carried out in all the 17 Metropolitan, Municipal and District

assemblies in the region, to prevent flooding and to ensure sustainable development.