Regional News of Thursday, 17 August 2023

Source: Michael Oberteye

Assembly tackling sanitation with ‘all hands-on deck’ approach – Lower Manya MCE

MCE for Lower Manya Krobo, Simon Kweku Tetteh, commissioning the project MCE for Lower Manya Krobo, Simon Kweku Tetteh, commissioning the project

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Lower Manya Krobo in the Eastern Region, Simon Kweku Tetteh has assured the constituents that his preoccupation is to take appropriate steps to address the sanitation situation in the area.

He noted that the situation required multi-faceted collaboration with various stakeholders to hold regular clean-up exercises, one community at a time across the municipality to enable residents cultivate the habit of regular cleaning.

Mr. Tetteh made this known while commissioning a 24-seater modern toilet facility for the people of Ogome-Takporm in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality.
“For the sanitation situation, we’re approaching it with all hands-on deck, we’re bringing everybody on board. We’re in talks with all stakeholders to hold fortnightly or monthly clean up exercises in one community for citizens to cultivate the habit of cleaning our own environment,” said the MCE.

The Assembly Chief as part of efforts to address sanitation challenges in the area, commissioned the toilet facility for the residents who have been without a befitting place of convenience over the past three years.

The previous death-trap facility which was deteriorated beyond use, was subsequently pulled down three years ago to pave the way for constructing a more suitable toilet.

Subsequently, a new project funded from the 1 million dollars per constituency fund, was begun in 2020 to replace the old place of convenience.

“The existing one, from our assessment was in a very bad shape, it was a death trap and we have built a new one for them,” he said.

He insisted that pulling down the previous facility was necessary to save lives and avert possible outbreak of cholera.

The latest facility brings to thirteen (13) the number of completed toilets completed under Mr. Tetteh’s tenure as part of aggressive efforts to address sanitation challenges in the area, following similar ones completed in other parts of the municipality.

The move, explained the MCE will greatly enhance sanitation in the area and thereby avert an epidemic.

Most of the newly completed facilities were replacements for existing but deteriorated toilets which posed danger to users and hence were pulled down to make way for new ones.

He assured that other ongoing places of convenience would be completed in due course while deteriorated ones would equally be renovated for use by the people.
Mr. Tetteh expressed his appreciation to the President and Assembly members for their support in ensuring that the project saw the light of day.



NPP Constituency chairman for Lower Manya Krobo, Mr. Emmanuel Siakwa attributed the party’s poor performance in the last election in the area to the lack of a befitting place of convenience.

He was hopeful that the provision of the facility would play to the advantage of the party in the next elections and tasked the community to reciprocate the gesture by voting for the party to continue to initiate more projects for them.

Mr. Siakwa urged the community to own the facility and ensure its proper upkeep to ensure that it lasts long to serve its purpose.

Assemblyman for the Agomanya-South Electoral Area, Philip Tetteh Batsa said the provision of the new facility comes as a huge relief to the people who had to resort to unorthodox means of attending to nature call including walking long distances to access the nearest place of convenience.

He expressed the gratitude of the people to the Assembly and government for addressing their major concern and urged the electorates to continue to support him to enable him lobby for more projects for the area.