The Ga East Municipal Assembly (GEMA), in partnership with the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project, is embarking on a massive Municipal-wide clean-up exercise to help promote a healthier and cleaner environment and improve overall sanitation.

The clean-up exercise, dubbed, "Let's Clean Accra - Sesa Wo Suban", is part of a special series being undertaken by the Assemblies within the GARID project area.

Kwabenya Electoral Area hosted the first of the special clean-up exercises in the Ga East Municipality on Friday, 23rd February, 2024, along the Kwabenya-ACP road, from the Station to KFC, where choked gutters on both sides of the road were desilted, weedy areas cleared, and scattered and piled up refuse collected into waiting compactors.

The exercise saw the participation of the Assembly Member for Kwabenya, Hon. Bright Paul Mintah, and the Unit Committee Members, shop owners, and Okada riders, among others, under the supervision of the Environmental Health Officers.

Tools such as wheelbarrows and shovels were available for use and Personal Protective equipment including nose masks, hand gloves, and wellington boots, while the GARID-donated compactor and that of Operation Clean Your Frontage were also on-site to cart away the waste collected.

Speaking with GEMANEWS, the Head of the Environmental Health Unit at the Dome Zonal Council, Richard Donkor, expressed gratitude to the GARID project for coming on board to the Assembly to organize the clean-up exercise and emphasized the significance of the exercise.

"This exercise is being organized by the Ga East Municipal Assembly and supported by GARID. We are so grateful to GARID for supporting us with items such as nose masks, wellington boots, and gloves. We want to use this exercise to rekindle communal labor among people in this community" he said.

The Public Relations Officer, Okunyin Boaz Orlan-Hackman, told the media that the Assembly is engaged in behavioral change activities aimed at educating the residents on the best practices to help keep their surroundings and environment clean.

"What I've always held is that to be able to achieve behavioral change, we need to engage in rigorous education and enforcement, so prior to this exercise, we did announcement with our information van, designed and shared flyers on our platforms, among others while the EHOs also moved from shop-to-shop and house-to-house educating the people, and this is the way to go", the PRO remarked.

The Unit Committee Member for Kwabenya Electoral Area, Hon. Thomas Kugblenu, explained the flooding situation at Kwabenya when it rains and commended the Assembly and GARID for the initiative, urging them to regularly embark on such exercise.

"Flooding situation is a very big challenge to residents at Kwabenya as the flood slows down productivity in the area. This exercise should be held at least once a month so as to reduce the flooding rate in the community", he said.

The exercise is expected to continue in other areas of the Municipality.