The Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State, Togbe Afede XIV has pledged support for the National Sanitation Day (NSD) as the Volta Region hosts the 4th edition of the clean up exercise.

He said government’s strategy of investing in people cannot be met if the people are not healthy and that it was only a healthy population that can contribute meaningfully to a country’s development.

Togbe Afede made the pledge when the Deputy Local Government Minister Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum paid a courtesy call on him to brief him on preparations ahead of the exercise on Saturday March 7, 2015.

He said it was sad for a country like Ghana which is said to be the gate way to Africa to be ranked low when it comes to matters of sanitation adding that the region must take advantage of the exercise as it seeks to contribute to national development.

He however noted that residents should not always wait for the cleanup exercise before they clean their environments but should on their own ensure that their environments are clean at all times.

He tasked operators of public facilities to make available dust bins and appropriate places of convenience to avoid littering and open defecation.

He has therefore called on residents in the region to rally behind the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to come out in their numbers and contribute to the exercise.

The NSD campaign was launched in September last year with the aim of encouraging Ghanaians to clean their environment and control the indiscriminate dumping of refuse in their communities.

The Deputy Minister thanked Togbe Afede for his support and asked residents to come out in their numbers and support the initiative.

He said the initiative can only be sustained if the ministry is supported.