Let’s Do It Ghana, the Ghana branch of Let’s Do It World, in partnership with the Norwegian Embassy, has launched this year’s World Clean-up Day, scheduled for tomorrow, September 15, at locations across the country.
Let’s Do It World is an international movement tackling environmental and social problems related to mismanaged solid waste.
Mrs Kate Opoku, the Country Leader, said as an environmental organisation, it had aims of promoting clean and waste-free Ghana.
She said the day, set aside by Let’s Do It World, intended to get 150 countries, including Ghana, on board to raise awareness on good sanitation and the need to clean their respective countries using the citizens.
She said the Ghana branch was mobilising volunteers across the 10 regions to participate in the World Clean-up Day.
The movement had developed a World Clean-up Mobile Application that maps out all thrash points, which will help provide a reliable data on waste in the country.
Mrs Opoku said Ghana was one of the fast growing countries in the world, however, it continued to struggle to achieve its sanitation agenda and stressed the need to sensitise the public to keep their environment clean.
She noted that about 12,710 tonnes of wastes are generated daily in Ghana and it is estimated to go up to 25,000 metric tonnes within the next three years.
Accra alone generated 3,000 tonnes of waste daily out of which only 2,200 was collected leaving a deficit of 800 every day, she said, and called on the media to educate, sensitise and influence the citizenry to change their attitude towards waste to achieve the sanitation goals.
“If people start seeing waste as resource that they could exchange for income and also recycle for other products, that will stop the insanitary conditions in the country,” she said.
“We are going directly to the people and educate them to understand the situation to change their attitude.”
Mr Gunnar Holm, the Norwegian Ambassador to Ghana, said the education must start from the family to instil cleanliness in the children at their tender ages so as to grow up observing good sanitation practices.
He said most of the plastic wastes in the ocean were not being produced by the oceans but through human activities, adding; “Keeping our oceans clean is key to humankind and such changes must come from the individual”.
Mr Holm said some years back Norway was engulfed with sanitation problems but the big campaign in the 60s had changed the trend and commended Let’s Do it Ghana for its vision and efforts to start the campaign.
”The Sanitation situation is one issue that no one can go against,” he said, and urged the organisers to engage the Government and its agencies to support their efforts.
“You need to engage research institutions to find out alternative to bio degradable products,” he added.
The Ghana Clean-up exercise will run concurrently in all mapped up locations across the country.
Source: GNA
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