MASSIVE CLEAN-UP EXERCISE IN KUMASI (PAGE 29)

Members of the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA), in collaboration with the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), are organising a massive clean-up exercise in all parts of the Kumasi metropolis on Saturday.
The exercise, which forms part of President Atta Mills’s vision of keeping Ghana clean and healthy, is meant to ensure healthy living among residents.
It is also meant to create awareness among Ghanaians of the negative attitude of littering the environment with plastic and other materials and their effect on the environment.
About 2,000 organised group members from the ESPA, the KMA, the military, the police, the Fire Service and students in the Kumasi metropolis will fully participate in the exercise, which will begin from 6 a.m. to 12 noon.
Residents of the metropolis are expected to clean their immediate environments and clear choked gutters.
To make the exercise very effective, all markets in the metropolis will be closed and commercial vehicles will not be allowed to operate during the period of the exercise.
About GH¢4,300 is being spent on the exercise and refuse that will be collected is expected to be evacuated to the Dompoase landfill site to prevent it from being washed into the drains again.
Briefing the mayor of Kumasi on the exercise, the Secretary of ESPA, Mrs Vera M. Yankah, said the KMA was determined to collaborate with all stakeholders to sensitise Ghanaians to the need to keep their environment clean all the time to enable President Mills to achieve his vision of keeping Ghana clean and sustaining it.
She said a similar exercise had taken place in Sekondi-Takoradi and expressed the hope that Saturday’s exercise in Kumasi would be the turning point in creating a healthy environment in the metropolis.
She suggested to the KMA and other stakeholders to monitor the activities of private tipper truck drivers who would be contracted to evacuate the refuse to ensure that they committed themselves to the exercise.
It was also suggested that the tipper trucks used by the various environmental services should be made to evacuate the refuse collected at the refuse points.
For her part, Madam Patricia Appiagyei tasked the stakeholders to map out a strategy that would ensure that members of identifiable groups would be motivated to continue the exercise on Sunday and Monday.
That, she said, would enable all the refuse collected on Saturday to be evacuated to the landfill to keep Kumasi clean.
Mr J.Y. Donkor of the Environmental Department of the KMA said the assembly was more determined than ever to collaborate with the print and electronic media to make the exercise a success.
He said apart from banners that had been printed to educate the public on the nature of the exercise, the KMA was also encouraging radio presenters to encourage their listeners to participate fully in the exercise.
Mr Donkor said the assembly was also linking up with members of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) and other transport owners associations to educate the travelling public to refrain from littering the streets with plastic containers and other materials after the exercise.
He appealed to residents of Kumasi to participate fully in the exercise to enhance the beauty of the metropolis.
In a related developmeNt the Metropolitan Co-ordinator in charge of Waste management, Mr Anthony Mensah, has stated that the exercise was targeted at making the Garden City clean towards the 10th anniversary celebrations of the enthronement of the Asantehene, reports Serwah Nkyira Opoku, Kumasi.
Speaking at a meeting with the traditional authorities at the Manhyia Palace on the exercise, he appealed to Nananom to inform their people to get involved in the exercise to make it successful.
Mr Mensah explained the house-to-house collection of refuse and the communal waste sites designated for the dumping of refuse and said a new system, the levy on throwing of refuse, had been introduced in most of the areas in the city.
He, however, stated that the system was not working as expected and appealed to Nananom to get themselves involved by advising the people to pay the levy in their respective areas to generate more funds to support the waste collection system, which he described as very expensive.
Some of the chiefs raised concerns over the waste and traffic situation in the metropolis and the Appiaduhene, Odeefoo Owusu Amoaya, said sanitation posed a serious health hazard to the people.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, noted that sanitation in the Kumasi metropolis was getting worse and stressed the need for all to contribute to keep the city clean.
He noted that the filthy situation in the metropolis was not a matter for the central government alone to resolve but that it was up to Nananom and everyone else to get involved to find a lasting solution to the problem.
The Asantehene also touched on the traffic situation, especially around Kejetia, and the activities of street hawkers and urged the assembly to renovate the various satellite markets in some suburbs such as Bantama, Krofrom and others for the relocation of hawkers.
The Asantehene called on the traditional authorities to help find lasting solutions to issues affecting the lives of the people and also offer relevant suggestions to the government.