President John Dramani Mahama and Vice President, Prof Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, are this morning leading several others, including ministers, Metropolitan and Municipal District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and security agencies, in a two-day national clean up exercise.
As early as 5am on Friday, July 10, officers including the Ghana Armed Forces, the Police Service, Fire Service, among others converged at designated areas including the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, readying themselves for the major exercise.
Also featuring prominently in the exercise is waste management company, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, which is providing equipment and logistics. The company is led by the Managing Director (MD) Mrs Doris Kwekwor Adjei.
The exercise, is being held in flood-hit regions including Greater Accra, Central, Western, Ashanti, and Volta.
The President was accompanied by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Ocloo at Tse Ado where is known to have a house property.
He inspected a choked and huge drain in the enclave as the Municipal Chief Executive for the La Dadekotopon explained issues to him. He at the time of filing this report, moved to Alajo where the Monday, June 29 flood was hard hit.
Prof Opoku Agyemang on the other hand was seen in the environs of the seat of government, Kanda, appropriately dressed, collecting some of the solid waste.
After that symbolic gesture, the Vice President urged the public to play their role as patriotic citizens and refrain from acts that contribute to disaster such as the recent catastrophic flood that was recorded recently.
“We are here because something has gone wrong. But a lot of it is something that you and I have caused.
We know that nature will do its own thing. But sometimes we also contribute negatively to the outcome. There are times where, you know, sometimes even the person who is suffering may not necessarily have been the one who caused the damage.
When we throw garbage into our drain maybe that is the reason why somebody’s house is finally flooded. Because we are blocking the water from taking its natural course. So this should be a wakeup call to all of us. We all know the right thing. We do. Let’s do the right thing and protect each other and protect our country”, she said.
Additionally, she thanked the various institutions and residents for coming out in their numbers to join in the exercise.
“But I want to thank you all for coming out to help because this is the time we should all show love. We should all support each other”, she further said.
Also present was the two Deputy Chiefs of Staff, Nana Oye Bampoe and Stan Dogbe, a former Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, who is now an Advisor to the Vice President, former Finance Minister Seth Emmanuel Terkper and others.
Tomorrow, the general public is expected to all come out and clean their environs to conclude the 2-day exercise.
By Gifty Boateng