Looming Sanitation crisis in Tamale

The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Tamale Alhaji Abdul-Hanan Rahman Gundadow has reiterated the challenge of the assembly in mobilizing resources to deal with the monumental sanitation problem in the metropolitan area.

According to him, sanitation takes a chunk of the assembly’s resources which is derailing their efforts to embark on key developmental projects in the city.

He believes when citizens begin to adopt sanitation practices that are sustainable, the assembly will be saving a lot of resources to improve their living conditions.

The Mayor of Tamale was speaking at a meeting with Army Wives Association (AWA) and other organizations at NalungFong in the Tamale metropolis to embark on the National Sanitation Day exercise over the weekend.

The Tamale Metropolitan Assembly needs about 4 million Ghana cedis annually to effectively manage sanitation in the sprawling metropolis.

But at the moment, officials can only raise 2 million Ghana cedis which according to officials at the assembly is inefficient to deal with the monumental garbage generated on daily basis.

Until the assembly is ably to raise such amount, residents of the Metropolis would have to brace themselves for more serious sanitary conditions in their neighbourhoods. As to whether the assembly is considering adopting the “pay as you go” sanitation police, the mayor also revealed the challenge in getting the buy-in of people especially the traditional communities to pay for their sanitation.

The Mayor the assembly will continue to subsidize for such communities until they get to the realization that paying for their refuse comes with benefits.