The Tema Mayor together with some residents cleaning the metropolis.
AS PART measures to halt the alarming rate of indiscriminate dumping of refuse, the Chief Executive of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), Felix Mensah Anang-La has declared the Assembly’s intention to arrest and prosecute sanitation offenders.
He made these remarks during a clean-up exercise held last Saturday at Tema, in the Greater Accra Region.
According to him, the Assembly has enacted sanitation by-laws to deal with people caught dumping refuse indiscriminately within the Metropolis.
This, he said, will serve as a deterrent to other people who may indulge in such acts, adding that, it will also help eradicate filth in Tema.
He added that, sanitation within the metropolis is his priority, hence the need to prosecute people who flout this directive.
The Chief Executive reiterated the President’s call in making Accra the cleanest city in Africa, adding that, Tema being part of Accra, he will see to it that the President’s vision comes to fruition.
He disclosed that, City Guards will be deployed to monitor and apprehend people who sneak at midnight to dump refuse around.
The three weeks clean up exercise which will be carried out in the entire metropolis began in the Tema East Constituency.
The exercise started at 6:00am, right from the forecourt and streets leading to the Assembly, through to Mankoadze roundabout, the various sites at Community 1, and the Community 1 market.
All trading activities came to a standstill, as shops were locked for the exercise to be carried out.
Residents trooped in from their various homes to participate in the activity. Choked drainages were de-silted to allow free passage of running water and the surroundings were neatly swept.
The Chief Executive, later, visited the ten electoral areas within Tema New-town, where similar cleanup exercises were carried out.
Upon the arrival of the Chief Executive at Bankuman, a suburb of Tema New-town, the residents lamented over poor drainage and sewage systemsin the community which results in rampant flooding of the area.
Responding, Mr. Anang-La pleaded with them to exercise restraint, assuring them that, a proper sewage line and drainage systems would be constructed very soon to alleviate their plight.
He, however, cautioned them about indiscriminate dumping of waste, as offenders will be made to face the full rigours of the law.
“The law will vehemently deal with people found culpable “, he stressed.
The sanitation exercise will continue in the subsequent weeks, in the two remaining constituencies in the Metropolis.
From Bernard Aryee, Tema