By Iddi Yire, GNA
Kasoa (C/R), Nov. 18, GNA – Intervention
Forum (IF), a non-governmental organisation, has organised a municipal-level
Sanitation and Health (S&H) accountability forum at Kasoa in the Awutu
Senya East Municipal Assembly (ASEMA) of the Central Region.
The forum’s objective was to inform and
stimulate citizens’ interaction with the Municipal Assembly, its zonal councils
as well Zoomlion and the Municipal Health Directorate on the status of
implementation of the 2019 S&H projects and also their 2020 action plans on
S&H.
It was held under the SNV Netherlands
Development Organisation’s Voice for Change Partnership (V4CP) programme, an
advocacy programme that aims at intensifying the voice of civil society
organisations and citizenry to demand more equitable, affordable and
sustainable S&H services and improved policy implementation at the
municipal level.
Concerns raised by participants during the
engagement include refuse collection, household toilet facilities, enforcement
of sanitation laws, and drainage systems within the municipality.
Madam Nora Ollennu, Chief Executive Officer
of IF, said there is the need for all stakeholders to collaborate to ensure
that concrete measure are put in place to address sanitation issues within
ASEMA.
She expressed the hope that the forum would
contribute to citizens’ gaining knowledge on what to expect from these key
institutions, their roles as citizens in the process and also provide an
opportunity for them to draw attention to critical S&H issues within their
communities.
Mr Godson Mawutor Lodo, Municipal
Environmental Health Officer at ASEMA, said there has been a massive
improvement with regards to sanitation enforcement and compliance due to the
intervention of the various zonal councils.
Mr Lodo said this was as a result of means
of transport to be able to reach out to areas where these issues were emanating
from and called on the Assembly and other stakeholders to provide the unit with
vans, to reach out to all areas within the municipality.
Mr Isaac Nana Abban, Municipal Director,
Ghana Health Service, said ‘drinking clean water, using clean materials for
storing water, practicing proper handwashing, surface cleaning practices; and
food hygiene practices’ was their area of focus.
Madam Vincentia Dandzo, a Sanitation and
Health Officer at Adam Nana Kpormetey Zonal Council, said for 2019 there was
the target to inspect 465 premises and 26 schools, however, they covered 280
premises and 12 schools, as at the third quarter.
Mrs Mabel Teye, Chief Environmental Health
Assistant at Iron City Zongo and New Town Zonal Council, said their target was
to sensitize 750 food/drink vendors on the need to undergo medical screening by
the year 2019, and so far 600 had been screened and issued with certificates.
She said they also aimed at educating and
persuading 10 landlords who do not have toilet facilities in Kasoa Zongo, to
construct household toilet; and so 5 out of the 10 have registered for the
construction of bio gas latrines.
Mr William K Tugli, Chief Environmental
Health Assistant at Akweley Zonal Council, said some common nuisance detected
include insanitary pit latrines, insanitary drains, indiscriminate dumping of
waste water, and indiscriminate dumping of refuse.
He said as part of the effort to bring
sanity in the area, their target was to summon 15 sanitary offenders in
Kaemebre in Akweley Zonal Council to appear in Court by the end of December
2019.
Mr Stephen Kutumpah, Environmental Health
Officer at Opeikuma Zonal Council, recommended that the Assembly should provide
sanitary tools to all Zonal Council Offices purposely for national sanitation
exercises.
He said the Ghana Education Service should
not grant permit to schools which did not meet the requirement and there should
be an alternative way for sensitizing food vendors rather than solely relying
on Assembly’s information van.
GNA
