President John Dramani Mahama has called on all Ghanaians to actively participate in National General Cleaning Exercise and National Sanitation Day activities stressing that it sustained collective action essential to restore Accra following the recent devastating floods.
Speaking at Alajo during the second day of the nationwide exercise, President Mahama expressed satisfaction with the level of public participation, describing the response over the first two days as encouraging.
“Today marks the second day of the National Cleanup Exercise. Yesterday, we witnessed a very impressive turnout, and today’s participation has also been encouraging,” the President said.
He appealed to residents who had not yet joined the exercise to come out and contribute towards cleaning the capital, emphasizing that rebuilding the city requires a shared national effort.
The President recalled that he had issued a directive on the first day of the exercise to address a recurring challenge that has undermined previous clean-up campaigns. He noted that while drains and gutters were often desilted, the waste removed was frequently left by the roadside, only to be washed back into the drains during subsequent rains.
According to him, the priority on the second day was to ensure that all waste removed from drains and gutters was collected, loaded onto trucks, and transported to approved disposal sites to prevent a recurrence of the problem.
President Mahama acknowledged that, considering the size of Accra and the enormous volume of waste generated by the floods, the exercise could not be completed within a single day. He announced that after the public phase of the clean-up, the Ghana Armed Forces, together with other state agencies, would continue clearing the remaining waste from drains and surrounding areas.
As part of measures to improve long-term sanitation management, the President disclosed that government had identified deficiencies in the city’s waste management system, particularly the failure to operationalise six waste transfer stations constructed more than nine years ago.
He revealed that government has engaged waste management company Zoomlion to reopen the transfer stations, enabling refuse trucks to dispose of waste at designated transfer points instead of travelling long distances to the landfill at Amasaman.
According to the President, the reopened transfer stations will allow larger trucks to transport waste from the transfer points to final disposal sites, significantly improving the efficiency of waste collection and sanitation management across the city.
President Mahama expressed appreciation to all volunteers, security agencies, local authorities, and residents who had participated in the exercise, while urging those yet to join to contribute to the national effort.
He expressed confidence that, through unity and determination, Ghana would overcome the effects of the floods.
“Ghana is a resilient country. Accra is a resilient city, and together, we will recover from this challenge and rebuild an even cleaner and stronger city,” President Mahama stated.
Story: Patrick Asford Boadu
