The Upper East Regional branch of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) last Saturday launched an environmental sanitation campaign project with a call on stakeholders to deliver on their mandate to achieve environmental cleanliness.
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It is in line with the national association’s vision of complementing government’s effort to increasing greater awareness on the menace of bad sanitation practices on the socio-economic development of the nation.
Before the launch, the GJA led a massive clean-up exercise in the Bolgatanga Municipality supported by the Regional Minister, Madam Tangoba Abayage, the Municipal Chief Executive for Bolgatanga, Mr. Joseph Amiyuure, personnel from the Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo), the military, among others.
Madam Abayage, observed that Ghanaians portrayed negative attitudes towards issues of sanitation, and urged the media practitioners to be ambassadors of sanitation, especially during their media platforms.
The Regional Minister expressed sadness at how people could sit in filth to do business without any concern, and tasked the various assemblies to enforce the by-laws to ensure that people did the right thing to ensure clean environment.
The National Vice President of the GJA, Mrs Linda Asante Adjei, stated that the GJA, in collaboration with the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA) and the Zoomlion Ghana Limited, was implementing a two-year sanitation campaign under the theme, “Media for improved environment sanitation: Behavioural change and compliance.”
The project, which would be facilitated through the various media houses, would be the initiative for public education and information towards changing people’s attitudes about issues of sanitation, leading people to adopt and implement good sanitation practices.
She indicated that sanitation issues were the responsibility of every Ghanaian, and therefore, there was the need for all stakeholders to clean their environment without expecting the sanitation agencies to undertake such exercise.
Mr Eric Kwadjo Amoh, Regional Chairman of the GJA, noted that the by-laws of the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies were ineffective, making people to disposed waste indiscriminately and posing health risks to the public.
He called on the leadership of the assemblies to crack the whip to serve as deterrent for people who engage in bad sanitation practices.
Mr Amoh urged the various environmental and sanitation agencies to support the advocacy project to succeed by constantly educating the members of the public on the dangers of indiscriminate disposal of waste.
The GJA later presented 10 pieces of dustbins to the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly to be placed at vantage points to enable people dispose waste properly.
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