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Workshop for sanitation guards ends at Nkawkaw
Nkawkaw, July 16, GNA- Sanitation guards selected from eight
districts in the Eastern Region on Monday ended a day's
orientation workshop on the socio-economic implication of
environmental sanitation on the nation.
The districts are Kwahu West, Kwahu South, Kwahu North,
Birim South, Birim North, Fanteakwa, Atiwa and East Akim.
The workshop, organized by the Ministry of Local Government,
Rural Development and Environment was to empower the
sanitation guards to educate the youth to avoid pollution to
reduce the high rate of environmental related diseases in
the country.
The participants were taken through topics like the
socio-economic implications of sanitation and health, roles
and responsibilities of sanitation guards, statutory
provisions on environmental sanitation and code of ethics of
sanitation guards.
Addressing the participants at Nkawkaw, Naa Lenason Demedeme,
a director in-charge of environmental health and sanitation
of the Ministry said between 70 to 80 percent morbidity and
mortality diseases like malaria, diarrhoea and other
communicable diseases were caused by poor sanitation.
He said such diseases in the community's affects the
sustainability of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Mr Demedeme said tourism could also be affected if
sanitation at the tourist centres were not improved to
attract more tourists.
He said sanitation guards were going to support the staff of
the environmental health offices to enforce sanitation laws
and regulations.
They would also undertake education programmes as well as
supervision and monitoring of sanitation services at the
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDA).
In an address read on his behalf, the Kwahu West District
Chief Executive, Nana Kofi Kesse said sanitation had become
a major problem to all MMDAs in the country.
He said a greater percentage of the assembly's resources
were allocated to sanitation programmes but the problems
seemed to be getting worse daily.
Mr Kesse said that was the reason why the ministry had
initiated the novel idea of reactivating the "samansaman"
programmes in the districts to assist environmental officers
to manage sanitation in their areas.
The Kwahu West District Youth Employment Co-coordinator, Mr
Ernest Appiah-Ansong said over 600 youth had gained
employment under the Community Education Teaching
Assistants, Health Extension workers, Youth in agriculture
business, community protection unit, sanitation and waste
management under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP).
GNA
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