The Operation Clean Your Surrounding campaign to ensure a clean and healthy environment within the metropolis has been kickstarted by the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA).
The Assembly started the campaign by embarking on unannounced visits to some households and commercial facilities to inspect the sanitary conditions of those places.
A statement Issued and signed by Mr John Latse, Communication and Visibility Officer of Twin-Cities in Sustainable Partnership Project (TCSPP), and copied in Takoradi said the program started from the Takoradi Sub-Metro where they visited eight food preparation and vending points, two public places of convenience, two bakeries, a flour mill, a drinking bar and a transport terminal.
It said some of the nuisances found were the lack of standard dustbins, food being sold being exposed to dust, flies and choked drains, and people preparing food under insanitary conditions, and others sold without medical certificates of fitness.
The statement noted that Mr Abdul Karim Hudu, the Metro Environmental Health Officer, who led a task force for the exercise, issued caution notices to operators of some facilities that violated the Assembly’s environmental sanitation by-laws.
In an interview, Mr Hudu noted that reported cases of typhoid and malaria at the various health facilities in the Metropolis kept increasing and that the campaign would among other things address some of the causes of these illnesses.
He pledged the team’s commitment to prosecute sanitation-related offenders during and after the campaign to help achieve its intended purpose.
The STMA launched the “Operation Clean Your Surroundings campaign on Wednesday, November 22, 2023, to promote good hygiene practices in the Metropolis.
The campaign is a component of a three-year European Union (EU)-funded Twin Cities in Sustainable Partnership. The project (TCSPP) is being implemented by the STMA, Palermo Municipality in Italy and other partners.
It sought to address cleanliness within the environment to help promote healthy living conditions and enhance hygienic lifestyles among the people.
The campaign is also aimed at enforcing the STMA’s environmental sanitation laws and encouraging citizens to take responsibility for their actions towards a clean environment.
Source: GNA
