Sheikh Ali Abubakar Napari, CEO of the Light Foundation with some participants
The Light Foundation, an NGO in collaboration with UNDP-Ghana have as part of activities marking World Cleanup Day embarked on cleanup exercises and sensitisation drive in the Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly in Accra.
The exercise is aimed at changing the behaviour of Ghanaians, especially residents in the area towards proper waste management practices.
The CEO of the Light Foundation, Sheikh Ali Abubakar Napari, said the objective of the exercise was to continuously educate Ghanaians on the need for them to embark on cleanup exercises to prevent diseases.
He said, “People should come together as a community to participate in cleaning their surroundings. Improper solid waste management is one of the causes of incessant floods in our communities.”
The World Cleanup Day is an annual global social action programme aimed at combating the global solid waste problem.
He explained that failure by Ghanaians to make cleaning a part of their daily activities does not only affect their health, but it also has larger implications on the environment, which could only improve by continuous sensitisation.
“I am a strong advocate for ‘clean water bodies’ agenda which influenced my choice for the clean-up exercise to be done around the Odaw river. We believe that we can only combat the filth that has engulfed us with this initiative, and so we will not relent on our effort to drive home this agenda,” he added.
This year’s clean-up event, which was commemorated at the Odorna area in the Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly, was part of the joint waste management project which had already started in the La Dade Kotopon and Korle Klottey municipalities in Accra.
The 12-month advocacy and sensitisation project on plastic waste management will also collaborate with religious leaders, traditional authorities, schools, youth and women groups in these communities to support the management of waste.
Participants at the event who cleaned up streets and the Odaw river area included Imam Musah Issaka of Odorna, Assembly member for the area, Hendrick Nii Kinnah for Korley Klottey Municipal Assembly and other notable advocacy groups.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah