Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, on Tuesday said he was under any political pressure to halt the decongestion exercise in Accra as speculated in some section of the media.
At the "Meet the Press" series held in Accra for the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD), Mr Vanderpuije told journalists, he had the full support of government for the decongestion exercise to rid the metropolis of filth.
"In fact as we speak now, the decongestion exercise is ongoing, and I have the support of government," he announced.
He implored the journalists to embark on excursion throughout the metropolis to ascertain the facts for themselves.
He expressed dismay at the idea some people held the view that the decongestion was only to demolish unauthorized structures in Accra and insisted the exercise was mainly to educate hawkers and street vendors.
"Before we started the exercise, we told you that people need to be educated on waste management and sanitation; we never mentioned that the education would stop after the two week period," Mr Vanderpuje recalled adding that decongestion was not only about demolition but education as well.
He said it was sad that two of last Friday's flood victims were swept away by the rain water because they slept in an unauthorized kiosk sited near water way.
Mr Vanderpuije said government had identified education and communication as effective tools for carrying out its policy to the citizenry and promised the AMA would continue to make use of the tools.
"We will continue to partner the media in order to educate the citizenry on the need to clean our environment and to rid it of filth."
On the issue of some faulty traffic and street lights in Accra, he said, government had embarked on a project to provide communities such as Dansoman, Mamprobi, Chemu and Russia (suburbs of Accra) with street and traffic lights to check nefarious activities in the night.
"I don't understand why we should still use electricity to power our traffic lights and street lights, instead of solar energy which is more reliable," Mr. Alfred Vanderpuije said.
Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Minister of LGRD, said government had identified deepening local level democracy, accelerating decentralization as well as local development and empowerment as crucial ingredients for good governance.
On the Town Hall meeting concept, he explained it would enable Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives to hold periodic meetings with people in their communities to educate them on development programmes and policies of government.
"It would also enable people at the grassroots to demand accountability from those at the helm of affairs in the districts," he added.
Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, the Deputy Minister of LGRD, said government had embarked on the Urban Management Land Information System (UMLIS) pilot project to properly demarcate and number streets in the metropolis for easy identification.
He explained that the pilot when replicated across the country would provide useful data for easy revenue mobilization and collection.
He added that an individual could easily locate places across the country with just a click on the phone by the help of the global positioning satellite under the UMLIS.