A. M. A ON THE MOVE, CITIZENS MUST ESCHEW PRIMITIVE BEHAVIORS

👉A. M. A ON THE MOVE, CITIZENS MUST ESCHEW PRIMITIVE BEHAVIORS.

So over the weekend, I decided to take a tour in town especially around the key market centers. This was to satisfy my curiousity on how the Accra Metropolitan Assembly is working to bridge the gap between good health and the sanitation issues which have become the bedrock for most calamities during perennial rainfalls in the city.

Despite the inestimable dangers that flood poses to society and our cities in particular, very little is being done by the authorities to either mitigate such it's menacing impact or completely nip same in the bud. This, I find rather inexplicable and worrying. It is no more newsworthy to hear that floods have subsumed most of cities because it happens every year. Yet, we only pay lip service to this rather deleterious natural canker.

Is it the case that there are no funds, wait! Did I just say no funds? Or there are no proper implementation structures to get legislations to function properly. Or is it a case of "It doesn't belong to my father so I careless" .

The fact that city authorities and institutions mandated to directly confront this issue have failed in the discharge their responsibility shouldn't give you, the ordinary citizen, the trump card to also sit unconcerned. Remember, you are more affected by floods than them irrespective of your location. So the sooner you embrace attitudinal change, the better for you and by extension, the society.

Going back to my original conversation before I drifted into lamentations, I realized that the A. M. A has provided waste bins at the corner of every streets at the market centres. Yes! Trust me, when I say that, the bins are so available that just by the stretch of a hand, one can find one to dispose their waste. (I don't mean those from your various homes).

The sad situation is that in the midst of these several waste bins, there are a lot of pure water sachet and other plastic wastes littered on the floor around the waste bins.

Is it that people can't see or they just want to continue in that "colonial" mentality that, someone is paid to clean?

At the Kaneshie market for instance, there used to be a heap of refuse that was as tall as height as Mount Everest. It is however gratifying to note that, the A. M. A has cleared up the entire heap from the market providing bins all over. I equally noticed how the Zoomlion Personnel were running here and there in a bid to keep the whole place neat and tidy.

Meanwhile, some individuals were busily messing up the whole place when they drink their sachet water, they could not keep the water sachet in their bags or pockets, or the waste bins which possibly is an arm stretch away. What at all is wrong with us? We seem to be losing our sense of responsibility and nation building.

This "uncultured" action I describe as deliberate, is a calculated attempt to cripple the hard effort of the A. M. A . Are there no bye-laws that empower A.M.A to  punish recalcitrant citizens? Why the inertia in allowing the law to bite? The culture of impunity in this country is just sickening. Why are we not enforcing the relevant sanitation laws in order to create the necessary deterrent regime?

In a car to Makola which happens to be the heart of Accra, a "gentleman" drunk a bottle of water and threw it on the road but it never occurred to him to put it in the vehicle, he argued that the driver had already yelled at him for leaving a waste in the car.

Just as we got down we saw this market woman who had dumped a lot of refuse at a new site she had created. The most frustrating part is that where she disposed the waste was just next to two big dustbins. That is how sad the narrative has become. A lot of people deliberately create waste which turns out to be huge problems and turn around to blame authorities for their woes when disaster strikes. We are our own enemies. The seed of hypocrisy we sow will always grow in the bellies of people without conscience.

We can together help abate these irresponsible behaviours if we put our shoulders to the wheels and push along instead of blaming others for our mistakes and failures. That is tantamount to assuming a defeatist attitude in the midst of reality.

My name is Bismark Tetteh and I promise not to litter the city ever again, stand with me to help build a better, safer and neat country for generations yet unborn. This is a call for national duty and I humbly invite you to join me in this crusade for love of God and country.

#IamTheManInWhite#
#AndI'mOnTheMove#