The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in the Builsa North Municipality of the Upper East Region, in collaboration with Zoomlion Ghana and the Sanitation Agency, has conducted a massive pre-disaster clean-up exercise in the Sandema township to educate residents on the importance of maintaining a clean environment.
In an exclusive interview with Kwaching Agwaazeh, the Municipality Director of NADMO, Mr. Bismarck Abakisi, explained that the exercise is part of NADMO’s pre-disaster activities aimed at preventing disaster by sweeping, de-silting drains, picking up plastics waste, and educating the community members to desist from other improper waste management practices in order to reduce the annual flooding in the Municipality as the rainy season approaches.
Mr Abakisi expressed concern over open defecation and indiscriminate disposal of waste at unauthorized locations, despite skip containers being placed at vantage points to receive solid waste.
“Attitudinal problem is one major concern hindering the progress we are making for the Municipality to attain a status of being the cleanest in the country. We continue to invest soo much but if the citizens do not change their attitudes we will still be exposed to health problems and yearly flooding ”, he pointed out.
Mr. Abakisi observed that the Municipality was too large for the people to share the few available trash cans, given the amount of waste they generate, and he urged the authority to provide more communal trash cans to accommodate the enormous amount of waste they produce.
NADMO, Zoomlion Ghana Ltd, and the Sanitation Agency deployed their employees on the principal streets of the Municipal Capital Sandema to sweep, de-silt drains, collect plastics refuse, and educate the community members to cease open defecation and other poor waste management practices.
Waste management vehicles, including refuse trucks and compaction trucks, were observed transporting waste from various locations to the final disposal site
The Builsa North Manager of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Mr. Awadiirima Anyana, who supervised the exercise, explained in an interview with Kwaching Agwaazeh that the purpose of the exercise was to draw attention to the deteriorating sanitation conditions in the country and to ensure a free flow of water in the gutters to prevent flooding and maintain a clean environment.
He pleaded with the public to engage in regular clean up exercises in order to keep the gutters free of debris in order to prevent flooding and to ensure that their environs were clean.
Mr. Anyaana bemoaned the fact that some residents were misusing the free garbage receptacles provided to them by throwing their trash in unapproved locations, and he urged them to use the bins for their intended purpose.
