Dorimon Naa, Wa West DCE lead massive clean-up exercise; threaten sanctions against recalcitrant residents

The Paramount Chief of the Dorimon Traditional Area, Naa Alhaji Seidu Tungbani Salinbile II, and the District Chief Executive for Wa West, Richard Wullo, have led residents in a major communal clean-up exercise in Dorimon.

The exercise, organised to commemorate National Sanitation Day alongside World Cleanup Day, targeted key public areas including the old Dorimon market, communal waste container sites, the central market square and bushes around the health centre.

Naa Alhaji Seidu Tungbani Salinbile II personally joined residents in sweeping the market corridors, describing his participation as a demonstration of the importance he attaches to environmental cleanliness across the traditional area.

“The Paramount Chief himself coming out to do a clean-up sends a signal to his subjects that the matter is very serious. When the Paramount Chief comes out to help clean, it means that no other person within the traditional area has any right not to join,” he said.

The traditional ruler warned that subsequent clean-up exercises would involve stricter enforcement, with divisional chiefs and residents who fail to organise their communities facing sanctions.

“If it becomes necessary, we shall impose sanctions on the chiefs there! When we impose sanctions on the chiefs, they will know how to get the sanction and bring it to the Paramount Chief,” he warned.

He also suggested that security personnel could be deployed during future exercises to ensure compliance.

Naa Salinbile II linked good sanitation to the health and productivity of residents, stressing that a healthy population is better positioned to work and support their families.

“Health is wealth. A healthy body will be able to work, work, and work to get a sustainable livelihood for the upkeep of family and the payment of school fees for our children,” he said.

The Wa West District Chief Executive, Richard Wullo, backed the Paramount Chief’s call for sanctions against residents who refuse to participate in sanitation exercises.

“I totally support the call by the Paramount Chief to ensure that those who may want to be recalcitrant towards supporting this National Sanitation Day are made to face the full rigours of the law,” he stated.

“While growing up as a young man, we used to hear of this ‘Samasama’ people. In those days, if they were coming around, you could see people running and trying to put their places in shape. The traditional authorities have bye-laws, and the District Assembly is quite in support of whatever sanctions to ensure good sanitary conditions,” he added.

The DCE, however, stressed that sanitation must go beyond periodic clean-up exercises, urging residents to adopt proper waste management practices as part of their daily routines.

“We are removing all the dirt, we are removing the waste, but sanitation goes beyond that. We need to have a practical demonstration that the events that lead to people keeping the waste there should not happen at all,” he said.

The District Environmental Health Officer for Wa West, Edward Yendow, said the exercise formed part of decentralised national efforts under the local theme “Small Actions, Greater Impacts”, in line with the global theme “From Clean Place to Clean Cities.”

He said extensive sensitisation had been carried out through local radio broadcasts and engagements with community leaders ahead of the exercise, with particular emphasis on plastic waste management.

“Sanitation has been a problem in Ghana, especially with the issue of plastics. This will not be the end; we will continue to engage community members from our usual routine inspections on how to manage plastics so that together we have a clean district to promote health,” Mr Yendow said.

He added that clearing weeds and plastic waste from public spaces would help reduce the risk of sanitation-related diseases, including malaria, typhoid and cholera.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.