Sanitation Minister inaugurates 9-member committee On CLeanest Region Ranking

A nine-member technical committee to oversee the ranking of the various regions as part of the Cleanest Region Ranking Campaign has been inaugurated in Accra.

The committee, which is made up of representatives from various sectors, would make a 60 per cent input into the judgement of the ranking, while the public voting which would be done through the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) code *857*7# would constitute 40 per cent of the votes.

They will rank the regions based on key indicators such as litter management planning, adequacy of cleaning logistics, state of community cleanliness, availability of a primary waste collection system, waste subscription rate, programmes of community education and sustainable waste management, among others.

The members are a representative of the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, Kweku Quansah; a representative of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Akosua Agyeibea; Carl Quist and Priscilla Attipoe, both representatives of the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development.

The rest are a representative of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Llyod Tagoe; a representative of the Environmental Services Providers Association (ESPA), a representative of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd, Timothy Ngnenbe; as well as Michael Dogbe and Rosemary Gbadzida, both representatives of the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council. 

Campaign

The Cleanest Region Ranking Campaign is an initiative of Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL) in partnership with Zoomlion Ghana Ltd.

Launched in February this year, the project is an initiative to encourage cleanliness and improve environmental sanitation across the 16 regions of Ghana.

It is to rank the various regions in terms of how they are managing environmental sanitation, particularly solid and liquid waste.

Transparency

Inaugurating the committee, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Lydia Seyram Alhassan, urged the technical team to be transparent in the discharge of their duties, while calling on Ghanaians to support the sanitation drive with a change of attitude towards open defecation and urination.

She added that since the government launched the national sanitation campaign in 2017, complementary activities such as developing model by-laws for the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAS), training of environmental prosecutors, distribution of wastewater bins to some MMDAs, MDAs and selected educational institutions; distribution of 42 waste trucks across Accra, the provision of over 100,000 household toilets and over 300 institutional toilets across the country had been undertaken to support the campaign.

The minister further commended GCGL and Zoomlion Ghana Limited for the initiative, adding that the ministry would continue to provide technical support for the sanitation drive.

In addition to the technical committee, Ms Alhassan urged the various assemblies to ensure the sustainability of the campaign.

Graphic

The Managing Director of GCGL, Ato Afful, underscored the importance of maintaining clean streets, pubs and public spaces, saying, “It promotes a feeling of pride and they attract more visitors and businesses”.

Following the inauguration, he said, the organisers would conduct regional tours to engage regional ministers to ensure stakeholder buy-in.

“Ultimately, we aim to make tangible differences in environmental health and our collective well-being at a consistent level,” he said.

For her part, the Managing Director of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Gloria Anti, urged the stakeholders to help one another to become the spine that supports the regions and ultimately evolve into shining examples for others to follow.

“Ranking the cleanest regions isn’t merely an accolade. It is not just a competition. It is a guarantee and a promise to every resident and, collectively, we will make Ghana a clean nation,” she added.