Henry Quartey
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, has hit the ground running with activities aimed at making Accra a clean and safe place to work and live.
The newly appointed regional minster, who had already engaged various stakeholders including all Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and the regional Police Command, said he was leaving no stone unturned towards making Accra work.
“I have already embarked on an exercise which has taken me to the principal streets of the city and observed traffic congestions in places like Madina Zongo Junction and Circle. The situation attributable to the indiscipline of drivers, pedestrians and hawkers on the roads, especially in the mornings,” he said during a media engagement he hosted in Accra.
Mr. Quartey noted that issues of indiscipline on the roads including the turning of portions of streets into lorry parks, stopping and picking passengers at unauthorised places by commercial drivers, driving on the shoulders of the road to avoid traffic, reckless riding of okada and use of sirens by unqualified motorists would be brought to the barest minimum.
He said plans were underway to tackle the indiscriminate throwing of plastic containers of water and aerated drink containers into drains, littering of the streets due to petty trading and the heaping of metallic scraps by scrap dealers on roadsides.
“On April 9, I would launch ‘Operation Clean Your Frontage’ where every institution in the region would be required to use an hour to clean their environment before work begins,” he said.
He said his office would liaise with the Ghana Education Service (GES) to prioritise the teaching of Ga language in schools in the capital, while it facilitates the completion of the numerous uncompleted facilities in schools.
The regional minister further noted that he would work closely with the security agencies to deal with the threat of land guards and armed robbery in the city while engaging traditional leaders to address the issue of multiple sale of land and the encroachment of public lands.
With the onset of the raining season which is characterised by flooding in parts of the city, the regional minister indicated that MMDCEs have been directed to implement preventive measures including desilting of all drains within their jurisdictions and sensitisation of the public against indiscriminate dumping of waste and refuse into drains.
Mr. Quartey said the call to action to make Accra work was a huge task which required all stakeholders to support and collaborate with the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) to make Accra clean, and devoid of filth.
“If we are to succeed, we would need the generality of the people of Accra to come along with us… I wish to make a clarion call on the media to collaborate with my office in disseminating information, educating and sensitising our people,” he said.
The minister is set to engage Members of Parliament in the region, including chairmen and secretaries of the NPP and NDC, former regional ministers, as well as former Mayors of Accra, leadership of traders’ associations, transport unions and traditional authorities in the coming weeks.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri