Attitudinal change is vital to protect the environment - Minister

Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR), has called on journalists to intensify efforts on societal attitudinal change as this is vital in the effort to protect the environment.

She said the goals of behavioural change have not been achieved because people continue to dump their domestic waste into drains though we know it is often the host for various diseases in the country.

Madam Dapaah said this at media sensitisation event held to review the achievements of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area-Sanitation and Water Project (GAMA-SWP).

The Sanitation and Water Project (SWP) is sponsored by the World Bank in collaboration with some selected Metropolitan, Municipal District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Greater Accra Region.

The GAMA-SWP review programme was to create the opportunity for the media and other stakeholders to deliberate on efforts being made in the sector.

Under the project, 19,500 household toilets and drains were expected to be constructed in the five-year duration (2015-2020) project but 27, 000 facilities as at the last count have already been constructed.

Madam Dapaah said other pollutants with health impact as open defaecation, plastic waste menace are also some of the concerns affecting the development of the country.

She called on the public to halt the practice of dumping refuse into drains and use their domestic waste bins or the litter bins strategically placed along the streets.

Mr George Asiedu, Coordinator of GAMA-SWP, said very soon the National Sanitation Programme (NSP) would begin to enable the MMDAs review their plans and enhance policy reforms.

“There is the need to reduce waste burning and called for the implementation of meaningful policies to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Six”, he said.

He expressed gratitude to the media for their collaboration over the period and urged them to intensify their campaign to ensure that people change their attitudes.

Mr Charles Yaw Mawusi, a media consultant, urged the media to focus their stories on the health implications of our current environmental situation and the effect it continues to have on our development efforts.