Mr Philip Aboore Adongo, Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), says the assembly is to focus on the Zongo communities during the next National Sanitation Day, on Saturday, June 4.

To this end, he said the assembly had started to engage chiefs and opinion leaders in the area to increase their role in pushing for cleaner environment.

Mr Adongo, who was speaking to Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga, said the assembly would give away 21 dustbins to the chiefs to direct where they could strategically be placed for effective use.

The MCE also gave the assurance that the assembly would ensure that the waste is picked regularly to avoid spillage.

He noted that open defecation becomes rife when waste is not disposed off.

He said open defecation is a challenge in the municipality and the assembly would apply sanctions on the culprits when all strategies of ensuring clean environment is in place.

He said there are benefits when communities observe a clean environment and warned that the assembly would follow sanitation issues with keen interest.

Mr Adongo said good sanitation practices call for collaborative efforts.

He said the assembly is also in the process of training and strengthening its sanitation department to help in the enforcement of the bye laws on sanitation.

Mr Adongo said the assembly is also making sanitation issues sustainable and a priority and so would ensure that the electoral areas take mandatory turns to clean their environment.