The Municipal Chief Executive of Ga South, Mr Moses Kabutey Ocansey, has called on residents to make environmental sanitation a top priority as part of efforts to improve waste management and safeguard lives and property in the municipality.

Speaking during the National Sanitation Day exercise at Ngleshie Amanfro, Mr Ocansey said that when communities embrace sound environmental practices, it will enable the assembly to meet national targets on cleanliness and public health. “Clean communities do not happen by accident.

It takes deliberate action from all of us. If we all commit to proper waste disposal and desist from polluting drains, Ga South will become a model municipality,” he stated.

As part of measures to address perennial flooding and encroachment, the MCE disclosed that the assembly has identified and earmarked about 1,200 illegal structures for demolition.

He issued a strong warning to residents against building in waterways and other unauthorised areas, adding that the assembly will be firm in dealing with offenders and other environmental violations. “The laws are clear. No one should build in waterways.

We are going to be tough because these actions put lives at risk, especially during the rainy season,” he warned.

The National Sanitation Day event brought together thousands of residents, assembly officials, and security personnel who spent the morning sweeping streets, desilting choked gutters, and clearing weeds on the main road and in neighbourhoods across Ngleshie Amanfro.

While residents cleaned on the surface, engineers were also on site dredging selected drains to improve water flow.

The two-day exercise was led by Mr Ocansey and his team, who moved through several communities to monitor the exercise.

At American Farm, the MCE and his entourage inspected an illegal refuse dumpsite along the banks of the River Jei.

The MCE says the dumpsite contributed significantly to the massive floods that recently hit the area.

He said the assembly has stopped it and taken those behind it to court.

The team also toured the worst-hit sections of the Accra-Kasoa highway that were damaged by the rains, which were Ataala and Osiadan near the Kasoa Ridge.

Residents of American Farm living near the Pacific Fuel Station used the opportunity to appeal to the assembly to construct a proper bridge to replace the existing culvert.

They said the culvert could not contain the volume of water during downpours, leading to flooding of homes and disruption of movement.

National Sanitation Day is observed on the first Saturday of every month as a voluntary nationwide cleanup exercise.

The initiative was first introduced on November 1, 2014, in response to a deadly cholera outbreak that claimed many lives across Ghana.

It was designed to revive the Ghanaian tradition of communal labour and to tackle poor waste management, prevent disease outbreaks, and restore community pride. To support the exercise, many assemblies across Accra and other regions direct shops and businesses to remain closed until a set time in the morning to allow owners and workers to clean their surroundings.

Mr. Ocansey reaffirmed the assembly’s commitment to sustaining the sanitation campaign and urged residents to see cleanliness as a shared responsibility, not just a government duty.