By Priscilla Nimako
Accra, Oct. 31, GNA-The Ghana Environmental Health Officers Association (GEHOA) has organised a three-day retreat programme for its newly elected regional executive and the National Executive Council (NEC).
Mr Harrison Yengbe, the Vice President of GEHOA, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that the retreat was aimed at complying with the association’s constitution, adding that it was also used to plan their activities, which included an impending inaugural ceremony for the regional executives.
He said the retreat was also used as a platform to revive the association to ensure that members worked towards ensuring good environment and sanitation across the country.
According to him, many environmental officers had the perception that the association was not functioning, which he noted the new executives wanted to change by reviving it.
He added that the new executives had a vision to bring sanity into the environmental space through health education, promotions, and prosecutions within the four-year tenure.
Mr Yengbe said they would also liaise with their employers to help get employment placement in the civil and local government institutions based on their qualifications to ensure they discharged their professional duties.
He called on employers of environmental health officers to provide them with the resources to ensure that they use their skills to bring sanitation to the doorsteps of the people in the country.
Mr Daniel Kweku Darku, the Financial Secretary of the association, reiterated that the retreat was necessary to equip the regional executives to whip up grass-root interest in its activities as they noticed apathy was rife among the members, leading to financial constraint.
He said as part of the retreat, participants would draw the annual budget and activities, as well as form various committees to oversee its activities.
Mr Smile Kobina Ametsi, the Principal of the School of Hygiene, Korle Bu, appealed to the government and stakeholders to support the school with resources, including vehicles and other facilities, for administrative and clinical purposes.
He said some of the challenges the school faced included students posting backlogs and financial clearance for graduates to ease their integration into the workforce which must be tackled to enhance their ability to provide a comprehensive education.
GNA