Residents at Odorkor Tsuiman, a suburb of the Ablekuma North Sub-Metropolitan Assembly, have been exposed to a serious sanitation problem which could lead to an epidemic.

The situation has also exposed them to a lot of health risks, with a bad stench emanating from the insanitary conditions and the indiscriminate defecation in the area.

This came to light at a day’s workshop for community members and stakeholders, including the banks, micro-finance companies, civic clubs and the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) at the Ablekuma North Sub-Metro Office at Odorkor in Accra.

Addressing the participants, Mr Robert Torgbor, Chief Environmental Health Officer in-charge of the area, said the initiative of the Sub-Metro was aimed at ridding Odorkor and its environs of filth and insanitary conditions which lead to diseases in the community.

He said the problem of poor sanitation is no longer the burden with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), adding that; “if we all change our attitudes and create clean and healthy environments, things will be better for us.”

Mr Torgbor urged the people to adopt positive characters towards sanitation, in order to save the government from spending so much money to control waste.

He advised the residents of Odorkor to change their attitudes to ensure good health in order to reduce frequent visits to hospitals.

Mr Torgbor said December 14, had been set aside for a general clean-up exercise at Odorkor, and entreated the community members to participate to ensure cleanliness in the localities.

Mr Thaddeus Maxwell Addae, a Health Officer of the Sub-Metro Office, also used the occasion to address food handlers at Odorkor to ensure that food for human consumption was not contaminated.

He urged food handlers to keep their places clean to reduce the level of bacteria contamination in the preparation of the food.

Mr Kenneth Tetteh, Assemblyman for Odorkor and also the Sub-Metro Chairman noted that irresponsible disposal of refuse into gutters and drains was a major contributory factor that blocked the free flow of rain water, leading to flooding and loss of properties at Odorkor.

"The reasons why the problem is compounded daily is the indiscriminate siting of containers and kiosks leading to defecating, littering on the streets, into gutters and water bodies causing pollution,” he stated.

Mr Tetteh expressed appreciation to the participants at the workshop, and urged them to co-operate during the clean-up exercise on December 14.