By Laudia Sawer
Prampram, Aug. 16, GNA – Maame Akua Maame Akua Ohenewaa Gyimah, a Child Sanitation Diplomat, has called on the government and stakeholders to prioritize good sanitation along Ghana’s coastal areas and water bodies.
Maame Gyimah, who is a Junior High School Pupil at Dawhenya Methodist Basic ‘B’ School, said apart from helping to improve the health of people, keeping the immediate surroundings of the sea and water bodies clean would also help rake in more revenue as tourists always visit such areas.
She made the remarks when, together with her friends, they joined the Ningo Prampram District Assembly, which collaborated with Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Ecozoil, the Coastal Association of Neighbours, and some fishermen to clean up at Prampram Beach.
The clean-up is a continuous exercise in compliance with “Operation Clean Your Frontage,” an initiative by the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council to keep the environment clean.
She said revenues accrued from such tourist activities could then help provide the needed social amenities to communities, and therefore stressed the need for government agencies in charge of sanitation to ensure its proper management and enforcement of the laws on sanitation.
The Child Sanitation Diplomat also encouraged the public, especially residents of Ningo-Prampram, to also keep their environment clean as their contribution to good sanitation in Ghana, adding that having a clean environment helps to have fresh air for rejuvenation.
She also urged those engaged in open defecation into water bodies to desist as the act contributes to the contamination of aquatic life, which humans turn to consume, a situation she reminded all posing health hazards.
She advised family heads, landlords/ladies, and the district assemblies to ensure that both households and commercial facilities have toilets on their premises as a measure to curb open defecation.
Mr Ebenezer Tetteh-Wayoe, a government appointee at the Ningo-Prampram District Assembly (NIPDA), lamented the high rate of open defecation along the beaches of the district, even though there were adequate public toilets along the stretch.
Mr Tetteh-Wayoe noted that there were two units of 32-seater public toilet facilities at the Prampram beachfront, which are available to be used, but some still prefer engaging in open defecation.
The elderly, he noted, were permitted to use the facilities for free, while adults and children paid GH¢0.50 per visit. He added, however, that community members still delight in defecating indiscriminately along the seashore.
He called for comprehensive public education on the adverse effects of open defecation on the community and research into why public toilets attract low patronage.
Mr Daniel Lamptey, the Business Development Manager for Ecozoil, a subsidiary of Jospong Group of Companies, said most of the country’s beaches were not clean, as according to him, people deliberately dumped rubbish and defecated at the beaches.
Mr Lamptey reminded the public that the sea does not generate rubbish, adding that in the ocean, anything that is dumped into it will be brought back to the shores.
“When fishermen go fishing, they bring rubbish and plastic instead of fish, and we are all to take the blame,” he said.
GNA