Yendi (N/R), Feb. 6, GNA - The people of Yendi Municipality have responded positively to President John Evans Atta Mills' call on the people to rid the towns and cities of filth and to create a healthy environment in all communities.

The general public, including Junior High School students who were led by the Zoomlion workers cleaned choked gutters along the roads in Yendi township and swept around the Yendi main market, community centre, cleared the rubbish within Zohe, Nyilifong, Kumfong and Balogu residential areas, among others.

Mr Kanyebui Timothy Fordjour, Deputy Coordinating Director, who addressed the volunteers after the six hours clean-up said the exercise was not going to be a one-day event but will continue until total sanitation was achieved.

Mr Fordjour said the benefits of a clean environment were immense, therefore they must demonstrate a collective resolve to support the crusade of getting their communities clean. He stated that, environmental sanitation is an essential factor that contributed to the health, productivity and welfare of the people of a nation.

He said, it is in recognition of this that, the exercise must be viewed with all seriousness.

Mr Fordjour said the exercise is an occasion for them, as a municipality to reflect on their responsibilities which they had neglected and which had negatively affected their progress. He said statistics from the Health Institutions indicated that over 60 per cent of diseases reported at the Out Patient Department have direct or indirect link with poor environmental sanitation. He said this meant that, the resources that were committed to the treatment of the people could have been saved for other development projects. Mr Fordjour commended the Yendi Municipal Information Services Department for carrying out public education on the exercise. Madam Fati Baba Sibidow, Senior Environmental Officer commended the volunteers for their hard work and urged them to keep it up. Madam Sibidow appealed to the landlords and their tenants to ensure that they always kept their surroundings clean to avoid outbreak of epidemics in the area.