Leading waste management company Zoomlion Ghana has embarked on an initiative to promote peace before and after the verdict of the Supreme Court hearing the 2012 election petition, through strategic clean-up exercises. The programme dubbed “Peace clean-up” is being carried out in all ten regions of the country to drum home the message of peace and sanitation, in order to promote development in health even after the verdict which has been slated for August 29, 2013. As part of the campaign, staff of Zoomlion cleaned the Mallam Atta Market in Accra Newtown where most of the gutters had been choked by either plastic waste or heaps of sand posing health risks to both traders and customers. Mr. Yahaya Yakubu, operations supervisor of Zoomlion Ghana Ltd. explained that the exercise is an initiative by Zoomlion to educate Ghanaians on the need to practice proper sanitation and most especially to propagate peace messages in the country. He entreated all Ghanaians to maintain the peace currently being enjoyed in the country after the Supreme Court pronounces judgment. “Please as we try to clean and keep our surroundings clean let's keep the peace as well, after all we are all the same people," he appealed. Mr. Yahaya Yakubu observed that the absence of receptacles in the area contributes to the indiscriminate disposal of waste in the area and its resultant large volume. He called on local authorities to assist in the provision of waste receptacles at vantage points to maintain sanity in the area. He also bemoaned the attitude of Ghanaians towards proper sanitation stressing that waste management is a shared responsibility and should be viewed by all as such. “We are not saying that come and help us to haul the waste; all we are saying is that do not drop waste at wrong places”. He recounted the days of sanitation guards popularly known as “saman saman” and charged local authorities to live up to the task by enforcing the sanitation by-laws and prosecute offenders to serve as a deterrent to others. The Queen-mother of the Mallam Atta Market, Asafoa Nye Ogbedie II, expressed gratitude to Zoomlion and pledged to mobilize the traders to ensure proper sanitation as well as maintain peace. She however took a swipe at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, charging the authority to summon shop owners who are in default of the sanitation by-laws. The staff, after the exercise marched through the market and its environs to propagate the peace message. At Tema, the Deputy Zonal Manager, Felix Amankwa after leading his colleagues to clean the metropolis. He said: “we don’t only need peace now, we need peace now and forever, hence the need to sensitize the public to remain calm even after the pronouncement of the verdict of the Supreme Court hearing the 2012 election petition case”.