Assembly Members in the East Gonja District have been advised to uphold and respect the district’s rule of making the first day of every month an environmental and sanitation day set aside to clean their environs.
“The time has come for us as leaders of assemblies to drum home the importance of good sanitation and gather them to work towards ensuring clean environment as it was some time ago,”Mr Alhassan Mumuni, East Gonja District Chief Executive, said.
He said this at the inauguration of a 7.5 million dollar International Development Agency water and sanitation project in Salaga.
The project, named "Sustainable Rural Water And Sanitation Project (SRWSP),” seeks to provide boreholes, build small town water supply systems, build small dam mechanized water supply systems and connect some communities to the transmission line of Ghana Water Company in six districts in the Northern Region within the next six years.
Mr Mumuni said "When we are able to promote and maintain clean environment as well as personal hygiene diseases such as cholera, malaria
and typhoid can be avoided because most of these diseases are caused by poor environmental sanitation,” he said.
Mr Mumuni lauded the initiative and said due to the district geographical location it was difficult for the area to have access to portable water.
“Getting water has been a worry in this area so we are ready to collaborate with any institution that will come to help mitigate such a
challenge”.
Mr Moses Bagbiele, Extension Service Specialist of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, called on the Assembly members to work
together with officials of CSWA towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation in the district.
Mr Bagbiele said the viability and sustainability of the project rested on how well the project would be monitored and controlled as well as the conduct of proper accountability to ensure its sustenance.