Mayor Bemoans Lack of Toilet Facilities by Shop Owners

Tha Mayor of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (A.M.A) Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, has expressed his dissatisfaction on the lack of toilet facilities in majority of shops within his Metropolis.

He therefore urged market women and traders to endeavor to build toilet facilities in and around their shops to prevent the dumping of such wastes into drains.

His call came at the heels of the recent cholera outbreak which is claiming lives across the country especially in the Greater Accra Region.

According to him, 93% of traders and shop owners in Accra have no toilet facility hence their actions of dumping wastes into drains.

The Mayor who was accompanied by the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, Christian Yehornu and the Greater Accra Regional Minister Hon. Afotey Agbo, carried out a clean-up exercise in the drains covering the NIB Bank near the Greater Accra Regional Police Command through to the Accra Breweries Limited and the Abuja Market.

During the exercise, the Mayor and his team detected that most of the items found in the drains include polythene bags containing human waste.

This angered the Mayor who, locked up shops of recalcitrant owners and traders who failed to join the team in the clean-up exercise.

The Mayor challenged them to do the exercise, clean up their drains before their shops will be opened to them for business.

According to the Mayor, the insanitary conditions around the markets and shops, where foodstuffs are being sold are major causes of Cholera and that the earlier steps are taken to address the situation, the better for the nation.

Dr Okoe Vanderpuije noted that the persistence dumping of waste into drains must stop.

He therefore tasked the A.M.A Sanitation Task Force to be on guard against the insanitary conditions in the Metropolis and that they must not fail to prosecute anybody found culpable of dumping waste into the drains.