Obeng Fosu, a Director at the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, has urged the metropolitan, municipal, and district sssemblies (MMDAs) to monitor sanitation issues in communities within their jurisdictions while enforcing the bye-laws to ensure healthy environment.

He said they must intensify their commitments towards effective and sustained hygiene education to change the people’s behaviour and attitudes to maintain good sanitary conditions.

Mr Fosu gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Akweteman in the Okaikoi North Municipality of Accra during a four-hour clean-up exercise on Saturday to intensify sanitation awareness within the area.

The exercise was organised by the Okaikoi North Municipal Assembly, which formed part of the environmental cleanliness campaign of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources.

Mr Ofosu said it was important for community members to prioritise environmental cleanliness to enhance health, adding: “It is time everyone rose and took up the responsibility to ensure a clean environment.”

The Ministry would provide modern equipment under the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development Programme for the assemblies to deliver on their sanitation enforcement mandate, he said.

Madam Agnes Boye-Doe, a Chief Editor of the Ghana News Agency, and a resident of Akweteman, said the community members desilted the drains, cleared the weeds and swept the streets and pavements, with a Zoomlion truck available to collect the garbage.

“We came together as a team to participate in the exercise. It is refreshing to see the streets and drains very clean,” she said.

“Good health is not a state of complete emotional and physical well-being alone but a clean environment and quality air enhance our capabilities to keep diseases at bay.”

She said the negative effects of a polluted environment could not be over-stated and urged all residents to prioritise their health needs and keep their surroundings clean.