The Central Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) has instituted measures to help in the maintenance and improvement of sanitation in government flats, quarters and Bungalows in the region to enhance the life span of those facilities.
The Council has in this regard, put in place a monitoring committee which comprises representatives of the occupants of those bungalows, as well as officials from the Lands Commission, Public Works Department (PWD), Environmental Health Office and the RCC .
This was made known at the inauguration of representatives from the various flats, quarters and bungalows who are to act as liaisons between the tenants in each block of flats and the RCC.
Mr Duncan Opare, a Chief Director at the RCC who inaugurated the committee on Tuesday in Cape Coast tasked them to ensure that they establish acceptable rules and regulations for all tenants of the blocks to bring about sanity.
They are also to report to the RCC the approved rules and regulations that would be instituted, ensure the compliance of the rules and regulations adopted by tenants as well as report to the RCC any tenant who violates the rules and regulations for the necessary action to be taken.
In addition, the members are to ensure that the surroundings of the flats, quarters and bungalows which are located at Brofoyedur, Ayiko-Ayiko, Adisadel, West-End Ridge, Second and Third Ridge and the transit quarters at the RCC are kept clean to avoid the outbreak of diseases such as cholera , malaria, typhoid, and elephantiasis.
Mr Opare who is also the chairman of the committee, urged members to organise regular house meetings and general cleaning exercises which he stressed should be participated by all tenants, and asked that recalcitrant tenants who failed to participate in such exercises should be reported to the Council for the appropriate action to be taken.
He pointed out that the RCC had decided to institute the measures because many of the occupants of the various flats were not maintaining the facilities which had resulted in the deplorable state of the flats, particularly those at Brofoyedur, a local fishing community.
He was unhappy that some occupants of the flats refused to replace their mosquito nettings when they were torn, paint their flats whiles others reared animals like dogs, goats, sheep and fowls, thereby making the surroundings unkempt and a breeding ground for rodents.
Mr Opare also expressed concern about the situation where tenants on leaving their flats removed items like louver blades, floor tiles, water closet seats and kitchen sinks with the excuse that they had fixed them, and asked that the practice should be stopped.
The chief director called on the Environmental Health officials to institute an award scheme that would rewards flats and individuals who were able to maintain their surroundings regularly, noting that this would serve as an incentive for people to keep their surroundings clean.
Mr John Lewis Abban, Principal Environmental Health officer, told the committee members that his outfit would intensify its inspection programmes this year and that compound action would be taken against tenants in flats that failed to keep their surroundings clean.
He said insanitary conditions in the metropolis accounted for the high number of outpatient cases in the various health facilities in the region and stressed that officials from his outfit would not only inspect the surroundings of houses but also the toilets and bathrooms.
Many of the committee members the GNA spoke to commended the RCC for the initiative and stressed that they would comply with all the rules and regulations stated in the tenancy agreement.
They, however, asked the RCC to take up major maintenance works such re-roofing of the flats, provision of street lights, construction of drains and gutters, as well as septic tanks which are currently in bad shape due to the lack of maintenance.
The representatives from Ayiko-Ayiko Block G particularly expressed concern about the weak nature of the block which they described as a "time bomb" and called on the RCC and PDW to undertake renovation works at the block to avoid any disaster.