Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfuor, has commended The Church of Pentecost for initiating “Environmental Care Campaign” to facilitate Ghana’s efforts in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal six, particularly on sanitation and hygiene.
According to the Minister, poor sanitation is one of the biggest challenges confronting the country and draining the resources of the state as the government continue to spend huge of sums of monies to tackle the menace.
It is estimated that poor sanitation costs Ghana $290 million which is 1.6 % of her GDP every year.
The Regional Minister, therefore, observed that the initiative by The Church of Pentecost would greatly complement government’s efforts in ensuring clean Ghana.
“Sanitation, hygiene, cleanliness is the responsibility of everybody but of course government through the Local Government Ministry has the responsibility to ensure that all our communities are kept clean.
“Sanitation is the responsibility of the District Assemblies but of course the Churches. They live within the Assemblies, they live within the communities so it is a good initiative that has been developed by the Pentecost Church to partner with the District Assemblies, with government to ensure that we have very clean environment to live in,” Darfuor said when he joined Koforidua and Effiduase areas of the Church’s joint launch of their version of the Environmental Care Campaign.
The Minister opined that for Ghana’s sanitation effort to be fully realized it is imperative to increase the number of waste recycling plants. He also called on the Municipal and District Assemblies to reactivate sanitation bye-laws to deal with persons with the penchant of polluting the environment.
The New Juaben South Municipal Chief Executive Isaac Appaw Gyasi said the Assembly and the Koforidua District Magistrate Court have reconstituted the Sanitation court to prosecute sanitation offenders in the Municipality.
He also mentioned that about 4000 dustbins are being procured to be positioned in vantage areas of the municipality to encourage people to discard refuse in waste bins instead of littering the environment to help keep the municipality clean. The MCE was, therefore, elated with the initiative by the Church of Pentecost.
The Koforidua Area Head of the Church Of Pentecost, Apostle Samuel Osei Asante said the Environmental Care Campaign is part of the Church’s social interventions captured in vision 2023 policy document with the overarching theme: “Possessing the Nations”.
He mentioned awareness on sanitation and hygiene, regular clean-up exercises, provision of dustbins as components of the Environmental Care Campaign which seek to effect a behavioural change of its members and others to be good stewards of the environment.
Present at the launch held at Koforidua Jackson Park were Effiduase Area Head -Apostle Daniel Yeboah Nsaful, District Pastors, Elders and Members of the Church, officials from Zoomlion, Fire Service, NADMO among others.
A major Clean Up exercise was subsequently held in various parts of the New Juaben Municipality by the Church.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Kojo Ansah
