Traders, residents and local authorities at Mallam Market on Friday joined the government's nationwide clean-up exercise, clearing heaps of refuse, desilting choked drains and sweeping streets in a renewed effort to reduce the risk of flooding following the devastating June 29 rains.

The exercise, part of a two-day nationwide sanitation campaign across seven flood-affected regions, saw market women begin cleaning early before volunteers and officials joined them to support the effort.

At the busy commercial hub, workers and residents removed refuse from drains, swept trading areas and cleared accumulated waste from roadsides as authorities intensified efforts to improve sanitation in one of Accra's flood-prone communities.

Assembly Member for the Sakaman Electoral Area, Joseph Ampomah Asiedu, said the exercise was aimed not only at restoring cleanliness but also at tackling one of the key causes of flooding in the area.

"We were here around 7 o'clock, and we started cleaning. Already before we got here, the market women had started cleaning the place," he said.

"The purpose of this is cleanliness. As a result of the June 29 rainfall, which caused a lot of damage in Accra, we want to achieve results. The place needs to be neat because when you clean, you keep the environment clean."

He said indiscriminate disposal of waste continues to contribute significantly to flooding whenever heavy rains occur.

"So that in the event that there is another flood, we shouldn't suffer. These things are what cause flooding," he added.

Mr Ampomah Asiedu stressed that the success of the clean-up exercise would depend on residents and traders making cleanliness a daily habit rather than treating it as a one-off event.

"It's about continuous sensitisation. We don't come here to make the place dirty. It is their daily activities that generate the waste, so it is their responsibility to gather the refuse and dispose of it in the skip bins for the municipal authorities to collect."

He revealed that previous clean-up operations undertaken after the June 29 floods required overnight transportation of waste because of the heavy traffic on the Accra-Kasoa highway.

"The exercise we conducted last week after the flood saw us transport the waste to Akoti. Because of the heavy traffic, we had to work through the night. I left here around 1:00 a.m. because we wanted to achieve results. If we had waited until the evening, transporting the waste would have taken much longer."

Although he could not immediately confirm where Friday's waste would be taken, he said he expected it would also be transported to Akoti.

The Assembly Member said Friday's activities focused on the main roads leading to Mallam Market, the central median and the market itself, while Saturday's exercise would target households and surrounding communities.

"We are tackling the median and the stretch from Hansonic to Mallam Market. Some of us are working within the market because, as you can see, there is a lot of filth and garbage here. Tomorrow, we will move into the individual households and surrounding communities."

The nationwide clean-up exercise, which began at 6:00 a.m. on Friday, will continue until 1:00 p.m. before resuming on Saturday as government and local authorities seek to improve sanitation and reduce the impact of flooding in vulnerable communities.