Ho (V/R), Nov.13, GNA – The Ho Municipal Environmental Health Officer (MEHO), Mr Aaronn Kofi Amedzo, has advocated for the upgrading of the Environmental Health and Sanitation Department to an Authority status.
He said the leverage and autonomy, would help it to rise to the challenges in Waste Management and other environmental sanitation issues at all local administrative levels.
Mr Amedzo said creating autonomy, “Environmental Health Authority” would elevate all structures and operations of the current EHOs in terms of status, finance and capacity to facilitate meeting all inherent challenges that were making delivery cumbersome.
Mr Amedzo, who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview said, the enhanced status would give greater impetus to planning, execution and monitoring, effectively, towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals in earnest.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic had taught the realities of environmental health and sanitation prudence and instructive that institutions should be empowered to take up the challenge.
The Municipal EHO said that the pandemic was a wake-up call for all citizens to think about the importance of public health and sanitation as everyone was at risk.
He contended that over-scaling the bureaucracy of approval for a request to attend to a looming waste management comes with its own issues, when the lives of the population were at stake.
“Communicable germinology is sometimes difficult to explain to management for prompt action.”
Mr Amedzo called for decentralisation in waste management participation to avoid creating a monolithic situation at fighting filth and waste in the system.
“Opening the frontier for participation will engender competition and keep our cities and towns safe, clean of refuse, in line with President Akufo-Addo’s dream.”
He explained that for the country to have a clean environment, the Authority created will be able to do its work devoid of politics.
Mr Amedzo added that the Authority when created would tackle all organisations in waste management on contract to clean the cities and towns, the Authority could demand accountability and take legal action, when necessary, all geared at safeguarding a clean environment.
He said the country and the environment would be the ultimate beneficiary and improved public health.
GNA