President John Dramani Mahama has called on Ghanaians to turn out in large numbers for the second and final day of the National General Cleaning exercise, describing public participation as essential to sustaining efforts to improve sanitation and reduce the risk of flooding.
In a Facebook post on Friday, the President expressed appreciation to residents, security personnel, government officials, traditional leaders and volunteers who participated in the first day of the exercise, describing the nationwide response as encouraging and successful.
The first day of the clean-up exercise brought together Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, ministers of state, regional ministers from the seven flood-affected regions, personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), corporate institutions, traditional authorities, including the Ga Mantse, and members of the public.
President Mahama also took part in the exercise at Tse Addo in the Greater Accra Region, where he joined residents and other stakeholders to desilt choked drains as part of efforts to improve drainage and mitigate future flooding.
Following the clean-up exercise, the President donated relief items to the Mamobi General Hospital and the 37 Military Hospital to support their infection prevention and sanitation efforts in the aftermath of the June 29 floods.
The donated items, which were contributed by private Ghanaian companies from their production lines, included diapers, liquid detergents, washing powder, antiseptics, disinfectants, bleach and other essential supplies to help healthcare facilities and affected communities maintain hygiene and restore safe environments.
The two-day National General Cleaning exercise is being held across seven flood-affected regions under the auspices of the Post-Flood Mitigation Committee as part of government’s response to the June 29 floods, which claimed lives, displaced thousands of residents and caused extensive damage to homes, businesses and public infrastructure.
