Cape Coast, Oct 8, GNA - Ms Mercy Arhin, Cape Coast Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) on Tuesday, attributed the insanitary conditions in the country, to the disregard for environmental sanitation laws by some Ghanaians, whom she said flouted such laws with impunity. She cited the current state of the Foso lagoon in Cape Coast, which she said was heavily polluted and choked due to such attitudes. Ms Arhin expressed these sentiments when she opened a day's 'capacity building workshop on education for improved sanitation', for 60 opinion leaders from Anaafo, a fishing community near Cape Coast. The workshop, which was organised by the assembly in collaboration with the German Development Services (DED), the Central Regional Development Commission (CEDECOM) and Youth Watch Ghana, a Cape Coast-based NGO, was aimed at assisting the residents of the community to effectively manage issues of sanitation in the community. The MCE urged residents of the Metropolis to cooperate with health and allied institutions in improving health and sanitation, by observing personal hygiene and good environmental sanitation practices. Ms Arhin particularly appealed to residents to ensure that the beaches are kept clean and to avoid indiscriminate disposal of refuse, such as dumping of refuse in gutters.

Mr Francis Kyeremeh, Executive Director of Youth Watch-Ghana said the objective of the workshop is to assist residents of Anaafo community to understand the environmental hazards of defecating in the open, especially at beaches, in order to promote sound sanitation practices. The Metropolitan Director of health services, Dr Joseph Nuertey, educated the participants on 'good sanitation, waste management, causes of malaria, sanitation related diseases and food poisoning'. He appealed to them to endeavour to impart the knowledge they have acquired to the whole of the community, and to contact his office whenever they needed assistance. 08 Oct. 08