Bolgatanga, Feb. 9, GNA- The Upper East Regional Co-ordinating Council, in collaboration with Zoomlion, a Waste Management Company, the Security Services, government departments and residents of the Bolgatanga Municipality spent several hours in a massive clean-up exercise at the weekend. Throughout the entire municipality, men, women and children swept residential compounds, offices, lorry parks, markets, streets and de-silted choked gutters. The thick cloud of smoke from burnt refuse that engulfed the Bolgatanga township for the greater part of the day was an indication of the intensity of the exercise, which began as early as 0600 hours.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after the exercise, the Regional Director of Operations of Zoomlion, Mr. Laud Mike Tagoe, said the exercise was in response to President John Evans Atta Mills' vision of ensuring a clean nation within his first 100 days in office. He urged the public to take advantage of the company's free distribution of dustbins to avoid a situation where refuse were dumped indiscriminately and asked them to dump refuse in containers provided by the company and the assemblies.

He indicated that his outfit would sustain the clean-up exercise by constantly clearing refuse in the Municipality, in addition to devoting every first Saturday of each month for clean-ups. The Regional Director indicated that the exercise would be replicated in all the nine districts in the Region, and exhorted all stakeholders and the general public to avoid apathy and come out in their numbers during the clean-up campaigns.

Mr. Tagoe appealed to opinion leaders and traditional authorities to mobilize their communities regularly for clean-up exercises, emphasizing that most of the disease epidemics including malaria, cholera, and typhoid could be avoided if people adhered to good sanitation. Police Officers from the Bolgatanga Municipality led by the Upper East Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Alhaji Amidu Mahama, and the security personnel from Fire Service took part in the exercise.

The Regional Police Commander explained that the duties and responsibilities of the Police were not only to prevent crime and protect lives and property, but also to ensure that the practice of good sanitation was maintained.

He enjoined the public to practice good sanitation and indicated that the huge amount of monies being spent on the health sector could have been used to invest in other sectors to generate employment if Ghanaians adhered to good sanitation practices. Earlier, the Regional Coordinating Council had organised a separate clean-up exercise at the Residency and the RCC offices in Bolgatanga, during which staff of the Council weeded the Residency premises, swept the yard and offices, and washed the drains.

Mr. Samuel N'lary, Chief Director at the RCC, who led the campaign, observed that such a gesture was long overdue, since "cleanliness is next to Godliness".

Mr. N'lary also pointed out that a tidy work environment was a morale-booster that could actually engineer one to give of one's best. He commended participants for their sense of duty and urged them not to let the exercise become a nine-day wonder. Zoomlion provided equipment including rakes, shovels, trail-cycles, bicycles gloves, nose masks, and personnel for the exercise.