Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, Paramount Chief of Osu, has called for more civic education in the communities on good sanitation.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after a clean-up exercise along the Osu beach as part of activities to mark the Homowo festival, Nii Kinka Dowuona said there is the need for attitudinal change by the people towards the environment.

The exercise was led by Mr Joseph Odartei Lamptey, a Musician also known as “Telemo” and sponsored by Zoomlion, a sanitation company, Baron Distilleries and other partners to support the celebration of the festival.

The annual festival, Homowo is literary meaning hooting at hunger and celebrated by the Ga indigenes.

Nii Kinka Dowuona urged the Klottey Korle Sub-Metropolitan Assembly to intensify their efforts at monitoring sanitary conditions and hygiene within the Osu communities.

He said environmental sanitation is a shared responsibility and asked the people to understand that the government alone could not address the enormous challenges.

He highlighted some of the programme of activities for the festival such as a visit to the royal mausoleum, street jam, games and more importantly the setup of Osu Educational Trust Fund and a dinner at the State House.

Mr Lamptey called on the media to help revive the self-help spirit of the people to make them more responsive to environmental issues through sustained public education.

He said educating the youth about good environmental sanitation is about helping them to understand what causes some of their health problems and what preventive measures could be possible, hence the need to be part of the clean-up exercise to have a strong commitment and sustained hygiene education to change the behaviours of the people.