The Mayor of Accra, Hon. Michael Kpakpo Allotey, has urged traders and residents to embrace National Sanitation Day (NSD) as a permanent way of life, warning that the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) would strictly enforce its sanitation by-laws against anyone who failed to comply with the regulations or keep their surroundings clean.
Addressing traders in the Central Business District (CBD) during the August edition of the NSD exercise, the Mayor said the initiative must go beyond a monthly clean-up exercise and become part of the daily routine of residents and business operators.
He explained that just as people considered eating an essential part of their daily lives, traders and residents should also make it a habit to clean their surroundings every morning before beginning their activities.
The Mayor commended traders who closed their shops and participated in the exercise, noting that the high level of compliance had contributed to the successful clean-up of the CBD.
He stressed that the Assembly preferred voluntary compliance and public cooperation but would not hesitate to arrest and prosecute people who repeatedly ignored sanitation directives adding that offenders could be fined or arraigned before the Sanitation Court under the Assembly’s by-laws.
