The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has expressed concern over the continued low participation of traders in the National Sanitation Day cleanup exercise within the city’s Central Business District (CBD).
Environmental Health Officer at the KMA, Kwaku Poku, said the assembly has made several efforts to encourage traders and shop owners to take part in the monthly cleanup exercise, but response levels remain poor.
“It’s been a source of worry to the assembly whenever we are organising this kind of exercise — the participation has been quite low. We expect the shop owners and the attendants to support us in that regard,” he said on Channel One Newsroom on Saturday November 1.
According to him, despite repeated public announcements and sensitisation campaigns before each exercise, many shop owners still close their shops and stay away, leaving most of the work to assembly staff and volunteers.
Mr. Poku disclosed that the Mayor of Kumasi, Richard Kwasi Ofori Boadi Agyemang, has directed the assembly to develop new strategies to ensure maximum participation going forward.
“The mayor this morning indicated that the assembly will come out with strategies to ensure that we get maximum participation,” he added.
He reminded traders that the National Sanitation Day is a national exercise and participation is mandatory. “It is a national exercise so everybody is supposed to partake in it. Those who refuse to take part, some sanctions will be applied so that everybody sees this as an important exercise,” he warned.
The comments follow the Mayor’s recent directive that all shops within the Central Business District remain closed until after 2 p.m. as a sanction for traders who refused to join the cleanup exercise.
A visit by Citi News to the area revealed that although many shops were closed in compliance with the directive, several traders were seen sitting idle in front of their shops instead of participating in the cleanup.
City authorities say stricter measures will be implemented in future to ensure that all traders contribute to efforts to keep Kumasi clean and healthy.
Source:Lovinghananews.com
