On the orders of President Mahama, a National Sanitation Taskforce is being launched under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to improve sanitation through a series of initiatives over the next three months. Local Government Minister Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo appeared on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Wednesday to discuss the strategies that will be implemented under the taskforce and the goals that these strategies address. He said that one of the initiative’s major features is the hiring of about 16,000 unemployed youth all over the country who will go door to door educating Ghanaians about sound sanitary practices and helping with waste collection. According to the minister, educating the public on how to effectively use the available sanitation resources will help optimize the performance of sanitation infrastructure. He later added that proper sanitation can inhibit the spread of certain diseases like cholera, that routinely plague Ghana. Along these lines, he announced that the Taskforce will launch a media campaign to promote waste disposal and effective sanitation practices. The initiatives will also focus on logistical problems. Many households cannot afford the bins from which private sanitation companies collect waste, so Ofosu-Amposo reported that the Taskforce has bought 5000 of these bins for municipal and district assemblies to distribute at their discretion. The Taskforce will also donate 2000 bins to private waste collection companies. He mentioned that the Taskforce is currently planning national cleanup days that will occur monthly in some jurisdictions and every fortnight at the municipal and district levels. He expects the cooperation of public servants including military personnel, police and firefighters as well as private sanitation companies on these cleanups. Furthermore, Ofosu-Amposo said, the National Disaster Management Organization will help by cleaning out refuse-clogged gutters that flood when the rains come. The Minister also alluded to plans to install waste receptacles at lorry stations and put waste collection bags in "trotros". Drivers will easily be able to empty the contents of these bags into the new lorry station bins. He reported that to further fight littering, the Taskforce is urging municipal assemblies to enforce bylaws related to sanitation and is asking judiciary to apply strict penalties in cases of environmental and sanitary offenses. He also mentioned that employees of private sanitation giant Zoomlion are authorized to arrest litterers. Ofosu-Ampofo also said that his Ministry is subsidizing Zoomlion to share some of its equipment with other less prominent waste collection companies to enable them to take on a bigger workload. He mentioned that to remedy the lack of available landfill space, the government is currently constructing final disposal sites that include waste separation facilities. These will isolate recyclable plastics and metals as well as treatable liquid waste and compostable organic waste from the main bulk of refuse so that, rather than being buried with the rest of the trash, they can be recycled or, in the case of the compost, used as fertilizer. Ofosu-Ampofo reported that the first of these final disposal sites, located at Adjen Kotoku, is nearly complete. Speaking of long-term objectives, he expressed hopes that every Ghanaian household be fitted with a toilet facility and he reported that his Ministry was supporting an initiative in the North to eliminate the practice of public defecation.