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The Western Regional Minister Hon. Joseph Nelson, has declared war against sanitation in the Region.
He said the declaration follows recent outbreak of cholera in parts of the region, and the health threats being posed by the sanitation situation in the region.
Addressing Coordinating Directors of the various Assemblies making up the region on Monday 17th February 2025, during his maiden meeting with them, he openly challenged the Coordinating Directors to redeem the image of the Western Region by making it clean
Consequently, he appealed to them (Coordinating Directors) working in the region to make the fight against sanitation a top priority.
He said the recent outbreak of the cholera in some parts of the region must have sent a strong signal to everyone that the fight against sanitation was crucial and obviously remains a collective responsibility.
He said the outbreak of the cholera could not have been attributed to anything than the poor management of waste, sanitation and hygiene in the region.
To this end, he warned all Coordinating Directors across the region to deal decisively with the institutions and companies engaged by government for management of waste in their respective areas.
“The institutions at the heart of managing waste must be cautioned ” he remarked
Hon. Joseph Nelso said all the Assemblies must have adequate plans for sanitation management and work with these plans so that the lacuna created will be avoided. “You must have plans for sanitation” he emphasised
He said under his administration as the Regional Minister, he will leave no stone unturned in dealing decisively with perpetrators of poor waste management in their respective areas
“There will be little room for excesses in managing waste in the region”
He said under his watch, it is obviously not going to be business as usual “it will not be business as usual “
He said anything done outside the instructions offered, will certainly not be tolerated “Anything short of that, will be business as usual”
On the cholera outbreak he said it was regrettable that the region suffered casualties unjustifiably as a result of the situation
“You cannot disconnect how effectively you manage this issues and occurrences of this nature. Some lives have been lost “
He announced plans to introduce Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) aside the national one to monitor and gauge the performance of all Coordinating Directors in their respective areas.
“It will relate to issues that confront the Assemblies” the Minister said.
He said services being offered by the Directors must commensurate with expected standards. Let’s keep our eyes on the ball. Your services must enrich the lives of the people”
He called on the Assemblies, currently led by the Coordinating Directors to make judicious use of resources available and police all the institutions under them effectively.
Innocent Haligah, Coordinating Director of Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA ) who spoke on behalf of the Coordinating Directors, acknowledged the responsibility placed on their shoulders by the Minister.
He told the Minister that the major challenge confronting the Assemblies in the fight against sanitation was lack of equipments.
He said virtually all the Assemblies in the region were facing sanitation challenges due to the aforementioned “The bottom line has to do with sanitation equipments”
He lauded the Minister for stepping up to the plate upon assumption of office and therefore pledged the cooperation of all Coordinating Directors to help his administration perform to the satisfaction of everyone and ultimately government.