Within a space of five (5) years, the country has seen the launch of two sanitation campaigns. The first one was the National Sanitation Day, which was launched by the Mahama-led administration. That campaign ensured that we all used the first Saturday of every month to clean our environs.
Yes, it chalked some successes. But the question that remains engraved on the lips of many Ghanaians is: did it achieve its set target? The answer is No.
Today the Akufo-Addo administration has launched yet another sanitation campaign. The Akufo-Addo administration has christened this campaign as “Everyday is sanitation day.”
And to indicate his seriousness about his zeal to fight filth in the country, President Akufo-Addo disclosed at the launch that every government department and agency including the seat of government—Flagstaff House—would be assigned designated sanitation Marshals and Deputy Marshalls. Their task, according to the President, will be to oversee compliance of their outfits and their staff to laid down sanitation by-laws.
Furthermore, the President announced that a new crop of young men and women and the National Sanitation Brigade will ensure enforcement of rules and regulations on sanitation—be it at state establishments, private establishments or households.
It must be said that the Akufo-Addo-led administration’s initiative on making our environs clean on daily basis is laudable, especially when waste continues to take the shine out of our immediate surroundings— houses, markets, lorry stations, offices and many more.
The question Today wants to ask is: where are we going with all these sanitation campaigns? What is it that we are not getting it right that we are unable to tackle heaps of garbage that continue to engulf our cities, towns and communities.
For us at Today, the bottom line is the enforcement of our sanitation by-laws. Failure to do that will see us not making headway in our quest to address waste in the country.
In fact, one may ask the question: why we succeeded with ‘Sama Sama’ concept? It was basically because sanitation workers were on a daily basis visiting households and making sure that Ghanaians kept their environs clean. And those citizens who flouted any of the sanitation by-laws were either slapped with huge fines or summoned to face the full rigours of the law in a law court.
The ‘Sama Sama’ culture indeed injected some sense of discipline into Ghanaians where people became mindful of the need to always keep their environs clean. We see some semblances with this new campaign.
What we need to do to ensure that we achieve the desired results is to apply the laws strictly on anybody who violates any of the sanitation by-laws. That way, we will all act responsibly towards the environment and not litter about anyhow or throw solid waste into the drains and gutters.
It is in this vein that Today agrees with the President that all hands must be on deck to make the “Everyday is sanitation day,” campaign succeed.
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