Ho, Jan. 29, GNA- The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) on Thursday launched its Volta Regional clean-up exercise in response to the government's concern on sanitation and environmental cleanliness.

The exercise was undertaken by 222 personnel drawn from the security services, Ghana Private Road and Transport Union (GPRTU), Market Traders Association, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) under the auspices of the Ho District Assembly.

They desilted and scrubbed chocked gutters in the area around the Ho Central Market, KK House, Dome, Civic centre and Ho- Kpodzi junction. They also cleared weeds at the public cemetery during the five-hour exercise.

The agencies adopted the last Thursday of every month as an environmental and sanitation day during which clean-up exercises will be carried out.

Mr Ferdinand Anku, Regional Director of NCCE, said the objective was to re-awaken the consciousness of the citizenry on the need to observe a clean, decent and healthy environment as subscribed by the Constitution.

He said through negligence and unsanitary living conditions, environmental inequality was gradually being created which calls for immediate redress as "cleanliness is next to Godliness".

Mr Anku attributed the poor sanitation to disregard for layouts, indiscriminate defecation, urinating in open gutters, refuse dumping in river courses, uncontrolled disposal of liquid and solid wastes, winning of building aggregates and the polythene menace as some of the negative human practices that degrade the environment.

He called for a vigorous awareness creation and positive attitudinal changes beginning from children towards whipping up their enthusiasm to always do the right thing when they grow up. Mr Mawutor Goh, Ho District Chief Executive (DCE), said the Assembly spends 200 million cedis monthly on environmental and sanitation management alone, adding that the assembly would be on the warpath on issues concerning the environment.

Mr Emmanuel Deffor, the Co-ordinating Director, said 84 people were prosecuted last year for flouting environmental and sanitation by-laws of the Assembly.