Accra: Mr Eric Gyamfi Odoom, Agona West Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), has admonished residents of Agona Swedru and its environs to keep their surroundings clean to avert the outbreak of cholera. The MCE said the water crisis in the Municipality had worsened and in its third week and gave the assurance that government was doing everything possible to fix the problems at Agona Kwanyako Water Works to restore regular water supply.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr Gyamfi Odoom was speaking during a meeting with Swedruman Council of chiefs, market women, staff of Environmental Health and Sanitation and Agona West Municipal Assembly after a seven-hour clean-up exercise in the Agona Swedru Municipality. They desilted choked gutters, swept public places including lorry parks and many other communities in the Municipality.
The MCE expressed concern about illegal mining, popularly known as Galamsey, which had been the bane of water supply to the more than one million people in Agona Swedru and beyond. The MCE hinted that the Agona West Municipal Assembly in collaboration with the Member of Parliament (MP) for Agona West, Mrs Tina Ofori Dangbey, had deployed water tankers to supply water to the Swedru Municipal Government hospital, and other health centres, senior high schools, among other places.
He urged Ghanaians to adopt a positive mindset towards the socio-economic advancement of the country to promote national development. Nana Kweku Esieni V, the Regent of Agona Swedru, said the Swedruman Council of Chiefs had planned to weed bushes around River Akora on Saturday, September 13, to keep the area clean and safe. The regent cautioned the residents against indiscriminate dumping of refuse in gutters and unauthorised places, particularly during market days.
He stated that the chiefs were going to be stern on sanitation-related offenders to stem the spread of cholera, which had claimed some lives in the Municipality. Mr Mark Dzodzodze, the Agona West Municipal Environmental Health and Sanitation Director, said store and shop owners who failed to partake in clean-up exercises would be penalised. He said the water crisis was yet to be solved and so the residents should keep cleaning their environment to avoid contracting communicable diseases.
