Local Government and Rural Development Ministry on Monday secured assurances of the Police and Fire Service towards a regular nationwide clean up exercise aimed at ridding the country of filth.

The maiden edition of what will be called 'National Sanitation Day' is slated for Saturday November 1, 2014.

The ministry hopes to repeat this nationwide cleanup exercise on the first Saturday of every month.

Sector Minister, Julius Debrah, obtained the support of the two security agencies when he visited their headquarters to formally notify their leadership of the National Sanitation Day and bring them on board.

He said following Ghana's poor score in a United Nations' survey on sanitation standards in the world and the recent scourge of cholera across the country, it has become imperative to deal the problem strategically.

Mr Debrah, who was accompanied by his deputy, Nii Lante Vanderpuye and other top officials of the Ministry said it will benefit the country if the Police, Fire Services other security agencies extended the monthly cleanup exercises in their barracks to the whole country.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan acknowledged the need to create a clean environment since the reverse affects everybody including police personnel.

He promised to ensure collaboration of his outfit with the Local Government Ministry by enforcing relevant by-laws that will ensure smooth takeoff the nationwide exercise on November 1 and on subsequent days.

Chief Fire Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service, Brigadier General J.B.E. Guyiri also confirmed the support of his outfit for the National Sanitation Day.

The Accra metropolis and other urban areas across the country have been a sad spectable of unsanitory conditions for many years.

The situation regained national attention after a cholera epidemic in June this year claimed hundreds of lives and infected more than 7,000 persons.

The situation got so bad that in August this year, President John Mahama called for weekly clean up exercises to curtail the spread of cholera epidemic that hit hardest in the Accra metropolis.

According to the Local Government Ministry, whose mandate includes facilitating the promotion of a clean and healthy environment, the National Sanitation Day is part of long term efforts to deal with sanition problem in the country.