METROPOLITAN, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the country have completed baseline data collection on environmental sanitation for the preparation of various environmental sanitation strategies and action plans.
The district plans would form the basis for the preparation of a National Environmental Sanitation Strategy and Action Plan (NESSAP) to provide a sustainable work plan for solving the sanitation problems confronting the nation.
A workshop has been organised in Kumasi to validate data collected by the various assemblies in the Ashanti Region to pave the way for the district plans in the region.
Officials who attended the three-day workshop, which was organised by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in conjunction with the Netherlands Government, were from various institutions, including the Food and Drugs Board, Ministry of Health, Ghana Tourist Board and Environmental Protection Agency.
Opening the workshop, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Kofi Opoku-Manu, said poor sanitation practices were evident in all areas of the country.
“This menace calls for a concerted effort and an integrated approach to tackle the problem head-on,” he said.
Mr Opoku-Manu stated that the unfortunate state of affairs had been created as a result of a long period of neglect of that sector, which was aggravated by the bad attitude of the people.
He said poor sanitation practices continued to have serious health implications on the nation, stressing that it was important for the necessary measures to be taken to address them.
“As a nation, we cannot afford to downplay environmental issues in globalisation, if we want to position ourselves well in the global economic environment,” he said.
Mr Opoku-Manu said as Ghana aspired to reach middle-income status by 2020, the expected enlarged economy and improved incomes would lead to all types of waste creation, which could aggravate the existing problem, and only effective strategies could tackle the situation.
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