Mr. Daniel Okai, Chairman of the Odododiodioo Constituency of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has appealed to residents of Accra not to politicize the decongestion of the city and its environs.
Speaking to GNA in Accra on Monday, he called on them to rather co-operate with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to ensure the successful implementation of the exercise to rid the city of filth and structures at unauthorized places.
Mr. Okai who is also a member of the Environmental Sub-committee of the AMA, noted that the recent floods that led to lost of lives and property could have been avoided if the people had observed sound environmental and sanitation practices.
He advised residents of the city especially traders and hawkers who had been evicted from pedestrian path and other unauthorized places not to consider the exercise as a political witch hunting.
The AMA member explained that the exercise was also not meant to deny anybody of his or her right to a source of livelihood but it was to protect lives and property and to ensure sanity and orderly development of the metropolis to befit its status as the gateway to the country.
Mr. Okai urged the people to desist from building and erecting structures on waterways to allow for the free flow of rain water.
He advised the people to dispose of refuse and waste especially plastics properly and to de-silt choked gutters and drains and urged them to support the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr. Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, to execute his plans to rid the city of filth.
The AMA on the night of last Sunday and the early hours of Monday carried out a decongestion exercise in the Central Business District of the metropolis including the Makola market, removing kiosks and structures at unauthorized places.