Accra, June 1, GNA - Residents of Accra metropolis have been urged to support Mr. Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), to rid the area, especially Accra of filth.

Mr. Daniel Okai, Chairman of Odododiodioo constituency of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), made the called in an interview with the city to befit its status as the nation's capital.

Mr. Okai said that the way the Mayor had "come out running" immediately after his endorsement by the Assembly, clearly "confirms what some of us saw in the man and supported his bid for the position". He observed that filth in Accra was cleared through the mobilization of the people, supported by companies that released equipment and trucks to cart garbage under a special programme to maintain environmental sanitation.

Mr. Okai asked the AMA to initiate comprehensive programmes to sustain efforts to rid the metropolis of filth. He called on the Assembly, the Information Services Department, National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), and the media to sensitise the public on sound personal hygiene and the proper way of refuse disposal.

Mr. Okai, who is also a government appointee of the AMA, suggested that refuse disposal bins should be placed at strategic points in the metropolis with a systematic programme to empty them regularly. He also urged environmental sanitation officers to arrest and prosecute people who dumped refuse arbitrarily to serve as a deterrent to others.

Mr. Okai said educational institutions and other identifiable groups such as market associations should be involved in the clearing of waste.

He said: "We can adopt the Singapore model of sanitation in which the people check each other to maintain sound environmental sanitation." Mr. Okai stressed that environmental sanitation and public health should be the collective responsibility of the Assembly and the people, irrespective of their political affiliations. He said "Even though we should jointly take part in massive clean-up exercises to rid the city of filth, we should as individuals consider the maintenance of a clean environment as a way of life".