Bishop advocates stringent measures for plastic waste menace

Pusunamongo (UE) Jan. 23, GNA - Most Reverend Alfred Agyenta, Catholic Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese, on Wednesday reiterated the need for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to adopt stringent measures to tackle the plastic waste menace that has engulfed the country.The Bishop suggested to the Assemblies to allot compulsory clean-up days for the residents to clean their environments even if such decision would have to halt economic activities temporarily, and said the move should be backed by their by-laws to manage and care of the environment and change attitudes.The Bishop was addressing participants at a review meeting in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region on the implementation of the Public Health Act 2012 (Act 851).Bishop Agyenta indicated that poor attitudes to sanitation had led to increase in communicable diseases, and said if they engaged in good hygienic practices, they would nib diseases in the bud, stressing the need to address the root cause of these problems, as well as ensure good packaging of sanitation messages.He said there was the need for more promotion and expansion on decisions regarding public health, adding that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference has joined hands with stakeholders to make the laws on health more practicable through awareness creation.He said the catholic church continues to play its role to draw attention of the public to some lapses in public health education, and mentioned instances of public distribution and the use of condoms as a lapse in public health education from the catholic church’s point of view, adding “if we are not cautious, we could be cutting the very branches that we are sitting on.'Mr William Abarikisi, Development Co-ordinator at the Yendi Diocese said the Public Health Act 851 targeted the poor and was special to the three northern regions that were more vulnerable and susceptible to poor health conditions, because of the high poverty levels and polluted water bodies there, adding that the forum provided opportunities for interaction between government and end users of services.Mr Daniel Syme , Upper East Regional Minister congratulated the Catholic Church for her role in promoting education, health and the general wellbeing of the people.He said the review meeting was another intervention of the Catholic Church which “even though related to health, was key to wealth creation, and relevant to the socio-economic development agenda of the nation.He added that health was fundamental to government, and so it was making efforts to ensure that Ghanaians had access to health facilities, citing the number of clinics, CHPS compounds and hospitals constructed throughout the country.GNA Read Full Story