A SANITATION youth club has been inaugurated at Sawla in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District in the Northern Region, charged with the responsibility of educating the people on sanitation matters and to embark on periodic clean-up exercises in the area.
The formation of the club, whose members are to be offered training, will be replicated in other areas of the district in line with the Government’s vision of ensuring improvement in the sanitation situation in the entire country.
The group was inaugurated by a 10-member team put up by the Northern Regional Co-ordinating Council to supervise the establishment of sanitation clubs in various districts of the region.
The team led by Justice Joshua Dawuni, had earlier interacted with the chiefs, assembly members and other opinion leaders in the district.
Mr Dawuni also explained the team’s mission to them and called for their support in addressing the sanitation challenges in the area.
“The problem of sanitation is a shared responsibility of everyone because environment related diseases such as malaria and cholera do not discriminate among persons”, he stated.
The people suggested that, more places of convenience be constructed to dissuade people from defecating around the communities while a bye-law was passed to empower sanitary inspectors to arrest and prosecute offenders to serve as deterrent to others.
The District Chief Executive for the area, Mr Alhassan Bukari Shakour, assured the team of the assembly’s support in the realisation of President Mills’s vision of ensuring clean environment in all parts of the country.
He observed that proper sanitation practice and management were important in the control and spread of diseases for which reason the assembly would not shirk its responsibilities in that sector.
The chief executive, however, expressed concern that in spite of the numerous appeals and education campaigns for people to change their attitudes by cultivating good sanitary practices, the situation still left much to be desired.
He added that some residents still persisted in the habit of improperly dumping refuse while others also littered their surroundings without any reflection on the implications of their actions.
‘‘We cannot do it alone if the people do not co-operate with us by changing their habits and ensuring that their surroundings are kept tidy at all times’,’ Mr Shakour stated.
He also underscored the need for residents in the area to rally behind the assembly by getting actively involved in its activities to accelerate the pace of development in the district.
