District Chief Executive Calls For Increased Sanitation

Mr James Gunu, the Akatsi North District Chief Executive, has said sanitation had direct bearings on health and must therefore be the concern of all. He called for strict enforcement of the laws on sanitation to prevent its wanton disregard and violation. He was inaugurating a 15-member District Inter-Agency Water and Sanitation Coordinating Committee (DICCS) for the area at Dakpa. Mr. Gunu said it was appalling for people to irresponsibly throw garbage around expecting that waste collectors would pick them up and added that the war against irresponsible waste disposal could only be won if the good practices were ingrained in the people. �Why should people by-pass waste bins located at vantage points only to drop garbage at areas nearby,� he asked and called for re-introduction of checks for personal hygiene and sanitation among school pupils and students. Mr. Gunu said investment in potable water alone would make no impact if the bowls and cups for collecting the water were as filthy as the hands holding them, with backyards remaining breeding grounds for diseases and mosquitoes. He said citizens of some countries attained longevity due to adherence to personal and domestic hygiene and appealed to all to reform. Mr. Gunu tasked the Committee to be agents of change and assist the district with ideas to turn waste into economic benefits and jobs. The Assembly he said, had plans to assist old homes to build places of convenience and permits would be denied new building projects lacking designs for toilets with the aim to stopping open defecation.