Dodowa (GR), Oct. 10 GNA - Madam Theresa Ameley Tagoe, Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister on Tuesday charged District Assemblies to enforce their byelaws when dealing with sanitation issues affecting their areas.
"We all produce waste, yet when it comes to its proper disposal it is only few people who adhere to the acceptable ways of waste management. This is the reason why diseases are plaguing most of our societies."
Madam Tagoe was speaking at the Launch of the Greater Accra Regional (GAR) Sanitation Week at Dodowa, near Accra slated from October, 10-17, 2006.
The sanitation week which attracted education and health officials of the district as well as school children was on the theme: "Sanitation, everybody's business".
As part of the celebration school children from the Dodowa Presbyterian and Methodist Primary and JSS schools carried placards through some of the principal streets of the town.
Some of the placards read: "Kick out malaria by ensuring clean environment", "Wash your hands with water and soap whenever you visit the toilet", "Sanitation is everybody's business" and "Dirty surroundings, enemy to health".
Madam Tagoe appealed to the Chiefs and Queen mothers in the region to be flexible in allocating lands for development of garbage disposal sites.
"After all sanitation is everybody's business and we all need to contribute or make sacrifices for the common good", she added. She charged the assemblies to pay more attention to mobilising individuals and communities to promote good health through sanitation and ensure healthy environs for the people.
She also called on the public to consider contributing something towards refuse collection, since garbage management was becoming an expensive venture
Madam Tagoe also urged teachers in the area to instil personal and environmental hygiene in their students to enable them practice it at home to influence their families to adopt the change.
Mr. Michael Teye Adjowerh-Nortey, Dangme West District Chief Executive charged the communities leaders in the districts to ensure that the waste generated in their areas were properly disposed off by environmentally acceptable means.
He said the assembly was putting in measures to address the waste management problems by evacuating all the refuse heaps in the area, gradual replacement of crude dumping sites with refuse containers and the acquisition of final disposal sites and employment of sanitary gangs.
"We all have a role to play because even as individuals we can contribute towards ensuring good sanitation in our environment by organising clean-ups and put in place to prevent gutters being choked and to avoid breeding of mosquitoes".
He also urged the people to form sanitation clubs with the sole aim of undertaking occasional clean ups in the communities to get rid of filth and even sanction members who fail to turn up.
