Ghanaians asked to be sanitation police

Mr Ekow Vincent, President of the National Service Personnel Association of Ghana (NASPA), has called on Ghanaians to act as sanitation police, to  help  protect the environment.

He said the issue of sanitation is becoming a national canker with many associated problems and it is important that the situation is reversed.

Mr Vincent made the call at a news conference in Accra attended by officials of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the National Service Secretariat.

He said NASPA is fully committed to the cause of ensuring a clean environment and would be participating fully in the second National Sanitation Day (NSD) slated for December 6.

He said NASPA members across the country are ready to participate in the NSD and other subsequent ones to help rid the country of filth.

“We are also going to be sanitation ambassadors by educating the public on the need to keep the environment clean, as well as policing the environment,” he added.

Dr Kpesa Whyte, Acting Executive Director of National Service Scheme (NSS), called for combined effort to help clean the environment.

He said a clean environment would not only create healthy citizens, but wealth and employment as the garbage collected could be imported and also recycled.

He described as unacceptable the ranking of Ghana among the worst 10 countries in terms of poor sanitation and called on all institutions to support the NSD to lift the country from its current status.

Dr Whyte said the NSS is fully committed to the success of the NSD and would actively involve its members across the country.

Mr Julius Debrah, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development commended executives of NASPA and NSS for supporting the NSD.

He said, Ghana could not continue to be rated among the poor performing countries in terms of sanitation and called for attitudinal change from the public.

He said the NSD has come to stay and the Ministry would be providing the needed logistics and materials to make the programme successful.

Source: GNA