The President of the Sefwi-Wiawso Traditional Council, Nana Katakyie Kwesi Bumagama II, has banned funeral rites, weddings and any social gatherings during National Sanitation Days (NSD) in the traditional area.

He said the Council and the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipal Assembly would enact a bye-law to enforce the ban and warned that any family or group that would disregard the directive would be prosecuted.

Nana Katakyie Bumagama, who is the Paramount Chief of Sefwi-Wiawso, made this known during the NSD at Sefwi-Wiawso.

He said due to the filth that has engulfed the Central Business District of Dwinase, the main market in the municipality and other places, the chiefs and the assembly would organise clean-up exercise every two weeks.

He advocated the strengthening and resourcing of environmental officers popularly known as “Samansaman” to carry out their work efficiently.

He indicated that as a result of environmental degradation caused by illegal small scale mining known as “galamsey” the Council would not tolerate the activity in the area.

Nana Bumagama pledged the support of the chiefs and people of Sefwi-Wiawso towards the NSD since it would keep the communities clean and help eradicate communicable diseases such as cholera, diarrheoa among other ailments.

He described the floods and fire disaster in Accra that claimed more than 100 lives as unfortunate and entreated the government to take drastic measures to forestall future occurrence.

A Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Emmanuel Kojo Agyekum, who joined the people of Sefwi-Wiawso for the NSD expressed appreciation to the chiefs and people for the enthusiasm they exhibited during the exercise.

He said the government has released more than 100,000 waste bins to the Western Region which would be distributed to the various districts.

He entreated the assemblies to keep them at vantage points in the communities.

The Deputy Minister advised the people to desist from indiscriminate littering on the streets and drains since the practice block drains and cause floods.

Mr Agyekum entreated the chiefs in the area to own the sanitation exercise and rally their people to participate adding that, it should not be a day’s event but an exercise that should be part of their lives.