The Mayor of Accra, Hon. Michael Kpakpo Allotey, has urged traders and residents to embrace National Sanitation Day (NSD) as a permanent way of life, warning that the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) would strictly enforce its sanitation by-laws against anyone who failed to comply with the regulations or keep their surroundings clean.

Addressing traders in the Central Business District (CBD) during the August edition of the NSD exercise, the Mayor said the initiative must go beyond a monthly clean-up exercise and become part of the daily routine of residents and business operators.

He explained that just as people considered eating an essential part of their daily lives, traders and residents should also make it a habit to clean their surroundings every morning before beginning their activities.

The Mayor commended traders who closed their shops and participated in the exercise, noting that the high level of compliance had contributed to the successful clean-up of the CBD.

He stressed that the Assembly preferred voluntary compliance and public cooperation but would not hesitate to arrest and prosecute people who repeatedly ignored sanitation directives, adding that offenders could be fined or arraigned before the Sanitation Court under the Assembly’s by-laws.

The Mayor expressed concern about food vendors who operated around drains and other unhygienic locations without participating in clean-up exercises warning that food prepared and sold in filthy environments could expose consumers to diseases.

He therefore called on food vendors to take sanitation seriously and participate actively in every NSD exercise, stressing that their responsibility to maintain clean surroundings was particularly important because of the potential impact on public health.

The Mayor announced that the collection and evacuation of refuse generated during the exercise were free of charge and urged residents and traders to send their waste to the designated collection points to be evacuated by the end of the day.

He appealed to corporate institutions to support the Assembly with logistics and other resources to sustain sanitation operations across the metropolis.

The Mayor expressed appreciation to President John Dramani Mahama for the NSD initiative and thanked corporate organisations, traders, residents and sanitation personnel for supporting the exercise and called on all Ghanaians to play their part in keeping Accra clean, healthy and orderly.