The President’s promise to make the capital city the cleanest in Africa in the next four years has received a boost as the new Mayor of Accra vows to review and improve existing actions on waste management.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, lauded President Nana Akufo-Addo for his bold vision for Accra and assured him of Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA)’s support towards its achievement.
“The President’s vision is not to make Accra clean but the cleanest and most beautiful in Africa, better than Nairobi in Kenya, Johannesburg, and Capetown in South Africa and Port Luis in Mauritius – the acclaimed cleanest cities in Africa.
"It is a vision to which existing action plans and policies may not be able to attain. The vision requires a change in policy.
“Being managers of the city of Accra, AMA in support of the directive of the Ministry of Sanitation wish to assure the President that we see this vision as realistic and achievable within the timeframe and we are ready to take on the challenge,” the Mayor said.
At a durbar held in his honour at Mantse Agboona in Accra last month, President Akufo-Addo promised to make the state capital the cleanest city on the African continent in the next four years.
He urged city dwellers and environmental stakeholders to support his commitment to rid Accra of filth by the end of my term in office.
Read: Akufo-Addo promises to make Accra 'cleanest in Africa'
Accra has been ranked among one of the dirtiest in the world by the United Nations in 2015.
According to the Mayor for his city to leapfrog from the dirtiest to the cleanest in Africa will be an uphill task and requires a lot more than slogans, rhetorics, speeches and sound bytes.
“We will be tough on the excessive generation and indiscriminate disposal of all types of wastes – solid, liquid, medical, hazardous emissions as well as land, water, and atmospheric pollution.
"We will not renege on our effort to stop the disposal of dirty oil into the soil by automobile mechanics, incessant burning of e-waste on bare ground and disposal of untreated biomedical waste into the ground without treatment,” he said.
He adds that apart from the clampdown on indiscriminate disposal of waste, there will also be a focus on beautifying the city.
“Accra must look attractive at all ties to give residents and visitors a sense of pride. Beautiful cities attract talents, investments and economic activities thereby increasing the city’s unique contribution to the nation’s GDP,” he said.
Among other actions, the AMA Chief Executive says existing by-laws on waste management will be stringently enforced and existing ones revised.
“As part of this, the review penal consequences for breaching the laws of the city will be heightened. Offenders will no long be handled with kids’ gloves. There will be an ongoing public education to make the public aware of the requirements of the law,” he said.
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