Director for Communication and Corporate Affairs for Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Mrs Emma Akyea-Boakye, has charged journalists in Volta and Oti regions to show keen interest in reporting on sanitation issues.
She identified the mass media as a powerful vehicle for the development nations, and should be used in the fight against poor sanitation in Ghana.
Presenting a sanitation award to Maxwel Awumah at the Volta Journalists’ Association Awards ceremony in Ho, Mrs Akyea-Boakye underscored the need for journalists to use their medium to spearhead civic consciousness towards proper sanitation practices.
The awards ceremony was on the theme; “Environmental Cleanliness, Media as Vanguard, Don’t drop that Litter”.
Twelve reporters received awards for their diligent reportage in Health, Education, Sanitation, Tourism, Sports, Child Right Protection and Agriculture among others.
The awards ceremony was climaxed with a fund raising activity to support the Volta GJA Sanitation Campaign.
Mrs Akyea-Boakye said Zoomlion Ghana Limited is focused on ensuring that Ghana achieves a zero waste status.
The company, indicated, has given a facelight to waste management in the country with the installation of the Integrated Recycling and Composting Plant in Accra.
Similar plant will soon be installed in Kumasi and Takoradi.
Zoomlion, she said, would support the campaign of the media to “name and shame” perpetrators of poor sanitation practices and also “name and praise” people who practice good sanitation practices within their communities.
Referencing the formation of a media coalition that helped in the fight against illegal mining (galamsey) in the country, she said the launch of the sanitation campaign would help Zoomlion and other actors in the sanitation industry to improve the country’s sanitation.
Meanwhile, Water and Sanitation Technical Coordinator for World Vision International, Mr Yaw Attah Arhin, has bemoaned the state of sanitation in the country and called on government and non-state actors to double efforts and resources towards addressing Ghana’s sanitation challenges.
The country’s sanitation challenges, he noted, has become an albatross on the necks of industry players in the country.
He said the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources which is a key actor in sanitation is under-funded.
“The Water and Sanitation (WASH) sector is one of the most under-funded sectors in Ghana with the 2019 budget allocating only GHS 246 million to the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources and its agencies,” he said.
Chairman of the GJA, Volta/Oti regions, Mr. Anthony Bels Kafui Kanyi, reiterated the importance of their sanitation campaign and urged reporters not to relent in their efforts
By 3news.com|Ghana