Clean-up campaign launched to rid Ga Mashie of filth

Accra, April 3, GNA - Mr. John S. Addo, Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Old Accra Project, on Thursday called on the people of Ga Mashie in Accra to rid their communities of filth and support efforts being made to give the area a facelift.

He said communities that did not support development did so to their own detriment and posterity would judge them unfairly, adding that, it was time for them to allow their communities to be transformed into modern ones.

Launching a beachfront clean-up campaign at Ga Mashie, Mr Addo urged the people to sustain the campaign and not make the initiative and commitment of the youth to rid the beaches of filth a fruitless one. The four-day campaign, expected to facilitate a cleaner environment to pave way for the project, is being carried out in conjunction with the Old Accra Conservation Development Association (OACDA and the Ashiedu-Keteke Sub-Metro with assistance from UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Australia High Commission. Madam Elizabeth Moundo, UNESCO representative, said the support it had given the project was to promote good sanitation and healthy environments as well as safeguard the Ghanaian culture and historical heritage by creating awareness among the youth and the community as a whole.

The clean-up campaign, she said, followed the execution of the first phase of the rehabilitation of Ussher Fort and other social amenities in the area and expressed the hope that the campaign would be sustained.

Australian High Commissioner, Mr William Williams said he was impressed with the commitment from the youth to preserve their beaches and added that he would not only be talking but would join them at the beaches to rid them of filth.

Mr Jonathan Nii Tackie Commey, MP, Odododiodio Constituency, said tourism thrived in countries where peace and sanitation were hallmarks and entreated his constituents to support the initiative to pave way for the Sekondi and Elimina harbours to be replicated in the area. He told them that the commitment of the people in those towns helped to bring to fruition the harbours which had become sources of livelihood for the youth.

Naa Dede Maadre III, Naa Ga (Queenmother of Accra), urged Ga people to do away with negative practices that blocked progress, noting that such practices were the causes of underdevelopment in the Ga state. "Unless we change our 'I don't care attitude' we can never move forward.".