SAEMA FOCUSES ON SANITATION IMPROVEMENT ...(Page 21)

Story: Kwame Asiedu Marfo, Sekondi

WITH the days for the kick-off of the 26th Africa Cup of Nations  (CAN 2008 ) tournament drawing near, the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEMA) is making frantic efforts to ensure that the tournament to be held at the Essipun Stadium, one of the host venues, proceeds in a conducive environment.
While the Ministry of the Interior has trained 550 personnel from the Rapid Deployment Force of the Ghana Police Service, in preparation for the daunting security challenges that will face them during the tournament, the SAEMA is making sure that football fans who will throng the twin-city Sekondi/Takoradi enjoy a very hygienic, as well as a serene environment during the matches.
The assembly has therefore centred its preparations on waste management, provision of adequate street and traffic lighting, beautification of the city and control of stray animals, among others.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of SAEMA, Mr John Analatei Laste, said the assembly had tasked its Waste Management Department to liaise with its private waste management providers, namely, Rusaben, Zoomlion Ghana Limited and ABC to come out with their strategies to control waste that would be generated during the tournament.
“We want to have a strategic plan on how to handle the situation”, he said, adding: “We will be looking at the frequency of lifting the refuse containers, while the assembly tries to increase the number of containers in the system”.
Mr Laste expressed optimism that the assembly would be able to handle the situation.
Touching on street lighting, he said Elsewedy Electric Ghana Limited, an electrical contractor, had been awarded the contract by the Ministry of Energy to install street lights on the 32- kilometre stretch of roads in the metropolis, ahead of
the tournament.
The PRO said the streets to be provided with lights would include the Nkotompo-Paa Grant roundabout, Effia Nkwanta Hospital Junction-Fijai, Kwame Nkrumah roundabout-Fijai as well as the Takoradi-Cape Coast road.
Besides, he said, the existing street lights from the Sekondi College Junction to the Effia Nkwanta intersection were being repaired.
He added that the contractor, who did the installation of the street lights on that road, was in Takoradi to repair the faulty ones.
According to Mr Laste, the contractor had completed the minor works and was left with the replacement of underground cables.
Touching on the beautification of the twin-city, he said Zoomlion Ghana Limited had been awarded the contract to green the roundabouts, as well as shoulders of ceremonial roads in Sekondi/Takoradi.
Mr Laste said the assembly was taking steps to ensure that those rearing animals confined them to stop them from straying from one sub-metropolitan area.
He said further that stray animals whose owners could not be traced would be auctioned, while owners who would come to identify their animals would be made to pay on-the-spot fines.
He said as regards accommodation that all the hotels in Sekondi/Takoradi were fully booked, adding that over 100 private houses and hostels had been registered but were yet to be booked for the tournament.