The Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly has inaugurated a 14-member sanitation task force to help in the enforcement of the Assembly’s bye laws on sanitation. The task force, made up of the representatives of the Ghana Police Service, Fire Service, Environmental Health Unit, the National Disaster Management Organization(NADMO) and the Works Department, replaced the defunct one. Mr Evans Bornaa, the Bolgatanga Municipal Environmental Health and Sanitation Officer, who spoke with the Ghana News Agency after the inauguration exercise, indicated that fresh bye laws would soon be gazetted by the general Assembly. He said the previous bye laws were not effective and could not stand the test of time, but the new task force would crack the whip on households and people who defaulted in the laws. Among the terms of reference of the members, the Environmental Health Officer said the task force would carry out radio and public education on open defecation and management of solid and liquid waste in the Municipality and ensure the streets and markets were kept clean. On how the activities of the task force could be sustained to bring sanity and behavioural change to the communities and public places, he said the Municipal Assembly was ready to motivate the taskforce to execute the mandate. Meanwhile, the Assembly, the team, the Environmental health staff and Zoomlion had earlier undertaken a cleanup exercise in the two Bolgatanga Markets, including the goats and sheep market to keep the place clean. Mr Bornaa said it had become necessary to carry out the exercise as the rain had stopped, to tidy up choked gutters and drains that had been filled with refuse and sand. He said some market stalls that had been abandoned over the years by their owners were also engulfed with filth and being areas where raw food was sold, it was appropriate to keep the place clean.

Source: Ghana News Agency