Members of South Ghana Conference (SGC) of the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) on Sunday spent several hours in a massive clean-up exercise on some principal streets of Accra.

The exercise which was done in a collaboration with Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) was aimed at addressing some of the environmental and public health hazards as a result of the recent floods that hit the metropolis.

The exercise also formed part of the activities aimed at commemorating the 125th anniversary celebration of the church.

The members led by their pastors de-silted gutters, cleared weeds, swept and picked up plastic waste for recycling from Kwame Nkrumah Circle through Osu to La Hospital main road.

Pastor Anthony Kessie, President of SGC, said as Christians it was their duty to ensure that the environment was always clean as cleanliness is next to Godliness.

He said it was about time church activities were not limited to the spiritual growth of their members only but to ensure that they took part in ventures that help the people to live in a sound and healthy environment and to reduce the incidence of diseases like cholera and other communicable diseases.

"We are all citizens of the country and apart from seeking our spiritual well-being we must also think of our physical development and play our part in the building of the nation," he said.

Pastor Kessie advised Ghanaians to desist from throwing debris into gutters which results in flooding when it rained.

Dr Alfred Vanderpuije, Mayor of Accra, said the enterprise for AMA was to ensure cleanliness of which sanitation was the top most priority of the assembly.

He said there was the need to come up with strategies to maintain and sustain such an exercise adding that this could be done with the effective participation of the youth.

He expressed concern about the fast rate at which people were turning drains into waste dump sites and called for stiffer punishments for those who go contrary to the city's bye-laws.

The Mayor gave assurance of the Assembly's readiness to enforce its environmental and sanitation by-laws and to prosecute offenders.

He commended the church for the exercise and called on other churches to follow the example to rid the city of filth and choked gutters to allow free flow of water in drains.