Stop the indiscriminate littering - Sanitation Minister

Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR), has described as ‘completely unacceptable the situation where indiscriminate littering, defecation and urination have become a norm in Ghana’.

She said the poor sanitation attitude needed to radically change since it impacted on so many segments of the economy and cost the nation money, time and pain.

She expressed surprise when one recalls how overnight, the once law-abiding Ghanaian have become recalcitrant and has developed poor attitude towards the environment.

Mrs Dapaah said this in a speech read for her by Mr Anthony Mensah, a Director at the MSWR, during the grand finale of the 2018 Clean Ghana Challenge Concert Award, organized by the Clean Ghana Action Ambassadors, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), at the National Theatre, in Accra.

The Challenge Concert Award was to provide a platform for the youth to exhibit their hidden talents by using creative art to educate the people to enable them become responsible to the environment.

She said “This bad attitude has led to numerous diseases and conditions, with attendant traumatic consequences with women and children bearing most of this burden.

“It has been estimated that over 3000 children under five years die every year in Ghana due to water and sanitation related diseases caused by diarrhoeal, which is facilitated by the poor environmental conditions created by the people,” She said.

Mrs Dapaah said the only way to reverse this gloomy situation was to improve on our attitudes because everyone has a role to play in making Ghana a clean nation.

She reiterated the need for a total commitment of everyone to avoid the senseless deaths through sanitation related diseases and urged the NGO to continue supporting, empowering and educating the youth on environmental issues.

Professor Stephen Adei, Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission, who chaired the function, urged government to strengthen political will to put in place a strong policy, enforcement regime and for people to realise the effect of poor sanitation.

“We must lift hygiene awareness and to include all stakeholders, especially the communities to be the vanguard of improving sanitation,” he said.

He advocated the imposition of stiffer punishment to ensure a conducive environment since the personal approach was no longer adequate.