Bolgatanga (UE), Oct. 5, GNA - Mr. Cletus Asamani, Acting Regional Environmental Health Officer, on Monday said solid waste generated in the urban areas in the Upper East Region was still a problem. Speaking with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga, Mr. Asamani said Zoom Lion, the local leading waste management company, provided the service of waste collection in the region but the timing in picking up the waste remained a problem.

He observed that wastes piled up for days before they were picked up. He said Zoom Lion, Municipal and District assemblies needed to step up their waste collection activities and also find alternative means of picking the waste in the Municipality.

He expressed appreciation for the monthly and quarterly clean-up exercises adopted by the MMDAs in the Region and called on all to help keep the towns clean.

In an earlier presentation at a seminar to Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), Regional and District Coordinating Directors (RDCDs) and some Heads of Departments (HoDs) in Bolgatanga, supported by UNICEF and the Regional Coordinating Council, Mr. Asamani shared some best practices on Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) with participants. He said CTLS was an integrated approach to achieving and sustaining Open Defecation Free (ODF) status in rural areas. CTLS leads to improving hygienic practices that included waste water disposal, solid waste management, care, protection and maintenance of drinking water sources and other environmental measures. He said four districts and one Municipal Assembly made up of Garu- Tempane, Bongo, Kassena-Nankana, Bulsa Districts and the Bawku Municipal had been selected as focal assemblies and are performing well under the UNCEF partnership.

He said this was as a result of continuous education and commitment of Health volunteers in some districts.

He said CLTS which was a partner to UNICEF and Ghana ensured ODF status that ensured that there was proper disposal of faeces and solid waste in communities, especially in the rural areas. He said the presence of active community-based hygiene volunteers, especially in the Bongo and Builsa districts and education accounted for successes chalked in selected communities of the pilot programme. He mentioned the ban on motor bike riding and the absence of alternative means of transport as one of the challenges in monitoring sanitation activities in the Bawku Municipality.