The adage ‘cleanliness is next to godliness’ does not appear to hold sway in many societies in the country today.
The current political administration in the country has taken a critical view of the situation that it has created a ministry to deal a frontal blow to it.
The ministry has not rested on its oars since its inception. It is unacceptable that while government has responded appropriately to the issue of sanitation the public continue to apply their indifferent attitude to the subject.
Our attitude to the environment does not help matters, little wonder filth continues to pile up no sooner than the appropriate attention is given to it.
Most of the filth in our urban centres especially Accra are those created by reckless and uncaring littering of the street and neighbourhoods.
Such environmental indiscipline requires another template to deal with. Some have called for the colonial days sanitary inspectors who they say should be given the authority to take action on defaulters. The appropriate bylaws exist in the books yet they are not being enforced.
Some have asked for the placement of litter bins at vantage points in the city so people can drop their litters into them instead doing so on the streets.
Our uncovered gutters continue to be alternatives to garbage bins. Domestic wastes are dropped into these open gutters with such impunity that we wonder whether those who do so do not find something wrong with their attitude.
We would not achieve the necessary attitudinal changes we require if we continue to use the present template in addressing the challenge.
The situation is not about nothing being done about sanitation. It is rather about the rather difficult task of altering the attitude of our compatriots to the environment.
When people in neighbourhoods stop dropping filth into gutters the eyesore created by the spectacle of litter-choked gutters would stop.
We think that a social re-engineering of sort should be adopted otherwise we would be in a quagmire.
A national conversation should be triggered followed by the engagement with churches, mosques and MMDAs on the way forward.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister Henry Quartey has proposed that shop owners clean their frontages. That is okay but without the people appreciating the importance of cleanliness the environment would continue to be abused by wanton irresponsibility.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly a few years ago came up with a solution when it isolated one of the Saturdays in a month for general cleaning of the environment.
For a few months residents got involved but that was short-lived. For some those Saturdays became days for extensive sleep at home as the gutters were choked with filth.
Last week the Oti Regional Minister hosted a section of the media and when the subject cropped up he pointed at it as one on his to-do-list.
The picture of filthy environments is countrywide and it is worrying. We can overcome it when we unearth the appropriate social formula.