The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), has launched an initiative aimed at stimulating and rewarding community participation and ownership of innovative schemes to improve environmental health and sanitation in the city.

The purpose of the initiative christened ‘Electoral Area Sanitation Challenge’ is to establish the status of environmental sanitation in electoral areas quarterly, create a sanitation database for decision making, facilitate investment in sanitation, focus remedial measures, promote local ownership of environmental sanitation issues as well as incentivize community initiatives on sanitation management.

Speaking at the press briefing at the AMA City Hall the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Accra, Mohammed Adjei Sowah said the performance of communities would be assessed based on four thematic areas namely waste management, public health and safety, innovation in environmental sanitation and community-initiated programmes and projects.

He announced that a technical team led by the Waste Management and Public Health Departments of the AMA would conduct periodic inspection and assessment to track progress and award marks at the end of every quarter which would be reported to the general public.

Mayor Sowah explained that marks would be awarded based on several criteria and parameters under the four thematic areas derived from the National Environmental Sanitation Policy, Accra Metropolitan Assembly Bye-Laws and the Accra Climate Action Plan.

He added that after the assessment best performing electoral areas would be motivated in kind to undertake activities to improve their environment while least performing ones would be engaged to plan and implement activities for improvement.

The AMA boss pointed out that weighed score for each criterion and parameter depends on the impact on the environment and public health, numbers of people exposed to possible risk from defect and ease of remedy adding that "the higher the score, the better the performance."

He called on the media to partner with the AMA in education and awareness creation, monitoring to generate issues that would help in achieving the objectives of the initiative.

Deputy Head of Waste Management Department at the AMA, Victor Kotey in a presentation on the summary scores of the various electoral areas said based on baseline assessment conducted during the first quarter of 2021, Gonten and Awudome electoral areas scored 57% being the highest whilst Korle Dudor, Amamomo and Kinka scored 37%,38% and 39% respectively representing the lowest.

He urged all stakeholders to effectively and efficiently play their part to mobilise resources and develop interventions to make Accra a liveable place.