Ghana Goes Clean �As National Sanitation Day Receives Massive Patronage

Some major streets of Accra and other communities in the Greater Accra Region on Saturday became clean, following the huge participation the second National Sanitation Day (NSD) received. Information available to the Ghana Palaver newspaper indicated that, the NSD was also successful in other parts of the country, as there were massive turn-out leading to the cleaning of the country. A tour by'Ghana Palaver' to some of the major streets in Accra, after the completion of the clean-up exercise revealed that, the usual dirt which had engulfed the Roads such as the Tema Station-National Theatre, Circle Tiptoe and Newtown, Kanda Highway, Nima-Mamobi, Cantonments, Burma Camp, Achimota and many others were cleaned. What was more striking about the second edition of the NSD was the fact that, many people were voluntarily coming out of their homes to partake in the clean-up exercise, apart from the over 50,000 National Service Personnel who took part in the exercise. At New Town for instance, many residents were spotted coming out of their homes to clean the streets and desilting gutters. In order to even make the NSD more sustainable, Mr. Julius Debrah, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development said the Ministry intends to promulgate a by-law to make the monthly cleanup exercise mandatory. Once in force, Ghanaians who fail to join the monthly cleanup exercise could face some sanctions. He said the Ministry would not rest until the public changed its attitude towards sanitation and make Ghana a clean country. Just like they did in the first edition, President John Dramani Mahama, his Vice and most Government officials joined the national exercise. The President was in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi while his Vice Paa Kwasi Amissah Arthur was in the Upper West regional capital, Wa. Mr. Mahama thanked all patrons who joined the exercise and encouraged Ghanaians to be part of the national efforts aimed at making the country clean. Also joining the campaign were the Police Service, Ghana Armed Forces and students. Hiplife group VVIP also joined the exercise at Nima, as part of efforts towards attracting more patronage from prominent people in society.