ENSURE CLEAN, HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT (PAGE 40)

THE Brong Ahafo Regional Director of the Department of Women, Madam Victoria Owusu-Kyeremaa, has urged Ghanaians, especially women, to always ensure a clean and healthy environment wherever they find themselves to help reduce out-patient department (OPD) attendance at health facilities in the country.
According to her, every citizen had a role to play in keeping the environment clean at all times to prevent diseases such as malaria and typhoid fever, which are a drain on the nation’s scarce resources.
She, therefore, urged women, the agents of change in the society and in homes, to lead the crusade against filth in the country to help achieve a clean and healthy environment.
Madam Owusu-Kyeremaa made the call at a clean-up exercise organised by the Regional Directorate of the department in collaboration with Zoomlion Ghana Limited at the Sunyani Municipal Hospital.
The exercise formed part of activities marking this year’s women’s week celebration in the region.
The celebration was on the theme: “Men and women working together for a better Ghana”.
The clean-up exercise, which was supported with logistics and staff from Zoomlion, involved the clearing of weeds, sweeping, clearing of choked gutters and the removal of cobwebs on the hospital’s premises.
Among the women’s groups that took part in the exercise were Prisons Officers Wives’ Association (PROWA), Fire Service Ladies and Wives’ Association, Ghana National Hairdressers and Beauticians Association, Unity Ladies Club, Teachers and Education Workers Union (TEWU) Ladies and Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) Ladies.
Madam Owusu-Kyeremaa urged women to inculcate the habit of environmental cleanliness in their children so that they would grow with it.
She said since cleanliness is next to Godliness, women must always ensure clean environment wherever they found themselves, especially at the markets, in the homes and offices.
Madam Kyeremah appealed to all residents in the municipality to help maintain and sustain the status of Sunyani as one of the neatest cities in the country by desisting from littering and indiscriminate dumping of refuse.
She expressed the hope that the women’s groups would embark on regular clean-up exercises in their various communities.
The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Operations Supervisor of Zoomlion, Mr Nicholas Ofori, commended the women for their massive turnout and pledged the support of Zoomlion to groups or organisations whose objective was to keep the environment clean and healthy at all times.