The Awutu Senya East Municipal Assembly has begun measures to prevent persons with mental health conditions from using the Kasoa Overpass, its under-bridge and the Kasoa Roundabout as places of accommodation.
The Assembly says the presence of persons living on the streets in these areas has contributed significantly to the persistent accumulation of garbage within the Kasoa Business District.
The development has raised sanitation concerns in one of the municipality’s busiest commercial areas, where traders, pedestrians and commuters converge daily.
According to the Assembly, the sanitation challenges around the overpass and roundabout cannot be blamed solely on traders and commercial activities, as some persons with mental health conditions have also been using the areas as places of abode.
The Assembly disclosed that garbage had accumulated both on and beneath the Kasoa Overpass, with some makeshift structures erected on portions of the overpass.
The situation came to the fore during a recent National Sanitation Day exercise, when the Assembly, together with volunteer groups and other institutions, undertook a clean-up exercise in the area.
Among those who supported the exercise were the Volunteers of Onua Wellness, the Kasoa Branch of the Apostolic Church, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and staff of the Municipal Assembly.
Following the exercise, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Seth Sewornu Banini, said the Assembly had identified the activities of persons with mental health conditions living around the overpass and roundabout as one of the factors contributing to the sanitation problem.
He said the Assembly would not allow the area to return to its previous state and had consequently directed its task force to take steps to prevent the re-emergence of the problem.
Mr Banini said the Assembly’s task force would be expected to monitor the overpass, under-bridge and surrounding areas to ensure that people do not return to the locations to sleep or establish makeshift accommodation.
The move forms part of broader efforts by the Assembly to maintain sanitation in the Kasoa Business District and ensure that areas cleared during sanitation exercises remain clean.
The MCE also commended traders who participated in the National Sanitation Day exercise, saying their involvement was important to maintaining a clean trading environment.
However, he disclosed that the Assembly had taken note of traders who failed to participate in the exercise.
According to him, those traders would be summoned by the Assembly in due course.
The leader of the Volunteers of Onua Wellness, Benjamin Yamuha, popularly known as BENCARE, called for a more sustainable approach to dealing with persons with mental health conditions found living on the streets.
He urged the Assembly and relevant authorities to take steps to relocate such persons to appropriate facilities where they could receive care, rehabilitation and support.
Mr Yamuha argued that simply clearing them from the overpass without addressing their welfare needs could result in the problem recurring elsewhere.
He also appealed to traders in the Kasoa Business District to cooperate with efforts to prevent persons with mental health conditions from using the overpass and its surroundings as sleeping areas.
He noted that when such locations are used as accommodation, they often become associated with littering and other sanitation challenges.
Some traders who participated in the sanitation exercise also called on their colleagues to make cleanliness a priority.
They stressed that maintaining a clean environment was essential to protecting public health and creating a conducive atmosphere for both traders and customers.
The traders encouraged their colleagues to actively participate whenever the Municipal Assembly organises sanitation exercises instead of leaving the responsibility to Assembly officials and volunteers.
They also appealed to traders to take responsibility for the cleanliness of their immediate surroundings and properly dispose of waste.
The Assembly’s latest intervention is expected to place greater emphasis on both sanitation enforcement and addressing the circumstances of vulnerable persons living on the streets, as authorities seek to keep the Kasoa Overpass and surrounding business district clean.
By 1960news.com
