The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) says it has taken measures to rid the city of filth and to improve the sanitation situation in the Metropolis.

Mr Abdul Mumin Issah, the Metropolitan Chief Executive, said at the first ordinary meeting of the Assembly that the sanitation unit evacuated heaps of refuse at the Sekondi and Takoradi Markets, Nkroful, Mpintsin, Fijai, Kojokrom, Alata-Saminafum and Essikado.

He said 32 Sanitation Improvement Package (SIP) waste bins were placed at vantage areas in Sekondi, Takoradi, Essikado and Ketan Sub-Metros to help rid communities of filth and to prevent disease transmission.

On flood prevention, the MCE said the Assembly desilted most primary, secondary and tertiary drains in flood-prone areas to prevent flooding during the rainy season.

He said a total of 50 drains were desilted and that 18 more were earmarked for desilting.
He commended Waste management service providers for their exceptional duties and the expansion of their client base, noting the growing numbers would improve house-to-house waste collection.

He said the services of the waste management company had led to a fall in inappropriate dumping of solid waste within some communities in the Metropolis.

The MCE announced that the Assembly would embark on quarterly disinfection of markets, lorry terminals and public toilets in the Metropolis.
For his part, the Presiding Member, Mr John Kwesi Buckman said the subsidized household toilet pilot project was introduced to provide a lasting solution to open defecation.

He explained that the beneficiaries build their structures and the Assembly supplied them with toilet bowl and bio-digester, adding that out 60 households have so far benefited.

Mr Buckman reminded the residents in the Metropolis to observe COVID-19 safety protocols.
"The coronavirus has not been eradicated; the rate at which it spreads has just decreased. Let us learn from the second wave experience from overseas."