The Ga State is set to collaborate with the government and sanitation giants, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, to embark on a massive clean-up exercise aimed at cleaning the capital city, Accra.
The initiative, dubbed the Homowo Clean-up Exercise, is part of the activities put in place to mark this year’s annual Homowo festival of the Ga people.
His Royal Majesty, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, Ga Manste, has thrown his weight behind the initiative, urging all chiefs and people of the Ga State to fully participate in the clean-up exercises. He also called on the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to support the traditional council in carrying out the project. “Let’s get to work and get Accra clean and working again,” he emphasised.
Indeed, one cannot deny the fact that sanitation is one of the major problems confronting this country. Despite all the good works being done by Zoomlion and allied companies, the issue of sanitation is still a challenge.
A research out carried by Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP) in March 2012 indicated that Ghana was losing GHC420 mannually due to poor sanitation. This sum is the equivalent of US$12 per person in Ghana per year or 1.6% of the national GDP at the time. Since this research was carried out in 2012, one can imagine the amount of money the country is losing through poor sanitation today.
To help tackle the problem, the government in 2014 promised to inject $50 million into the sanitation sector with development partners, the private sector was expected to complete the efforts of the government by bringing on board US$352 million. This means in 2014 alone, Ghana was expected to inject a total sum of US$402 million to deal with the sanitation problems.
Once again, one can imagine the figure that will be needed today to fight the sanitation related issues in the country. Regrettably,the budget for the sector ministry has plummeted from GHȼ1,847,454,545 in 2023 to a significantly lower figure of GHȼ591,052,380 in 2024. This sharp decrease is primarily attributed to a staggering 76% reduction in funding from Development Partners (DPs), overshadowing a modest 10% increase in government’s contribution.
The above figures we have quoted clearly indicate that the fight against poor sanitation is not an easy task and the current economic situation has even escalated the situation. But in the face of all these difficulties, should we, as a country, continue to fight poor sanitation with reactive measures alone? The answer, in our opinion, is no!
The best way to deal with the situation is to rather take proactive measures and not reactive measures which we have adopted over the years. It is repugnant to sometimes hear from a section of Ghanaians that they can litter our streets because Zoomlion is there to sweep the mess they have created. This backward thinking is what has pushed us deeper into the problem of unsanitary conditions.
The Chronicle is, therefore, suggesting to the authorities to consider public education as an integral part of the sanitation fight. The government must liaise with all the radio and television stations to use part of their prime time to educate Ghanaians on the need to stop indiscriminate littering of our streets and other public places.
As we suggested in this column some years ago, the teaching of sanitation must be included in the curriculum of our basic schools. When the children get the fundamentals about how to properly dispose off garbage at the basic level, they would grow with it. This is succinctly elucidated in the biblical quotation found in Proverbs 22:6 which says, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
If we fail to tackle the problem from the right sources, we will continue to pump millions of dollars into fighting poor sanitation, including the efforts being made by Ga Mantse and his elders, but no positive results will ever be achieved.
We should let the people know that the indiscriminate disposal of waste materials is not the best way to go. Zoomlion is sweeping our streets everyday yet we are been swallowed by filth. This tells a story that we need attitudinal change to first stop the indiscriminate littering and the rest will fall in line.
