By Emmanuella Owusu, GNA
Tema, June 20, GNA – The Environmental Health Unit of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) has introduced the “Pick It” initiative in selected Basic Schools across the metropolis.
The initiative forms part of efforts to inculcate good sanitation habits and promote environmental responsibility among schoolchildren.
The initiative, which encourages pupils to remind one another to pick up litter wherever they find it, formed part of a sanitation sensitisation campaign conducted in schools to address indiscriminate waste disposal and its contribution to environmental degradation and flooding.
It targeted pupils of Akodzo Junior High School, Padmore Street Primary and Junior High School, GTP Community Four No. 2 Primary School, Twedaase Primary School and Twedaase Junior High School.
Mr Mathias Gafatsi, a Senior Environmental Health Officer, urged the pupils to take ownership of their surroundings, noting that individual attitudes towards waste disposal played a critical role in promoting community health.
“The environment is your surroundings, and you are a part of it,” Mr Gafatsi told the pupils.
“We are currently facing the consequences of poor sanitation and flooding because our drainage systems are being choked with plastics and other refuse. Gutters are designed for wastewater, not for solid waste,” he stressed.
He explained that recent the heavy rains, which resulted in flooding in some communities, underscored the need for proper waste management practices.
Mr Gafatsi cautioned that indiscriminate littering created breeding grounds for mosquitoes, flies and rodents, thereby increasing the risk of malaria and other sanitation-related diseases.
As part of the campaign, the pupils were encouraged to politely remind their mates and peers to pick up litter found on school compounds, in their homes and within their communities.
Madam Saudatu Issaka, an Environmental Health Prosecutor, reinforced the need for behavioural change among the pupils.
She observed that while many pupils-maintained cleanliness
within their school compounds, but failed to exhibit the same attitude in their communities.
“We want you to grow into responsible adults who understand that a clean environment is the foundation of a healthy life,” she said.
Madam Issaka expressed the hope that the pupils would become sanitation ambassadors who would influence their families and community members to adopt proper environmental practices.
The environmental health officers noted that the department would continue to monitor the initiative and revisit participating schools to assess progress, adding that rewards would be given to schools and pupils who demonstrate exceptional commitment to environmental cleanliness.
The officers reiterated that sanitation was a shared responsibility, and that collective action remained key to reducing preventable diseases and flood-related challenges within the metropolis.
GNA
Edited by Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo/Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Emmanuella Owusu, GNA