<<Print>>

The first ever World Clean-up 2012 Get-together Conference to encourage people to refrain from discarding waste in public places has been launched in Accra. The conference on the theme: "Let�s do it Ghana� is scheduled for March 2012 to be attended by environmental and health officials from the West African Sub-Region to share ideas on the previous clean-up exercises in their respective countries and marshal support for the 2012 exercise. The West African Regional conference being organised by Junior Chamber International (JCI) Ghana is expected to attract 100 delegates across the globe to help deliberate on issues confronting countries as well as educate the public on the need to keep the environment clean. Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, launching the conference said, lack of voluntary clean�up exercises in the communities had resulted in increase in diseases than in the past. He said waste management also posed a threat to government finances since funds would be allocated to deal with the problem. �There is the need for a complete change of attitude if we can completely deal with the deterioration of sanitary conditions in the cities and towns,� Mr Afriyie-Ankrah said. He said all and sundry to keep the environment clean to eliminate diseases such as malaria and cholera. Mr Afriyie-Ankrah said waste must be seen as a resource that could be transformed into valuable material for national development through recycling, recovering as well as re-using of materials that could generate income for the country and also serve as a source of employment for the youth to reduce unemployment in the country. The Deputy Minister reiterated government�s efforts to ensure effective and sustainable management of waste in the country.