The Director of Metro Public Health at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Ing. Florence Kuukyi, has revealed that sanitation has become a major benchmark for assessing the performance of Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) nationwide.
Speaking on Joy News’ AM Show on Tuesday, March 24, she said the government is placing strong emphasis on sanitation as a critical indicator of governance.
According to her, the President is using sanitation as a yardstick to evaluate MMDCEs, with increased support directed toward improving the sector. However, she noted that authorities must now focus on changing approaches to achieve better results.
Ing. Kuukyi explained that effective waste management goes beyond simply collecting and disposing of refuse. She said it involves both technical and behavioural components.
“It’s not just about collecting waste. There’s the hard component—handling and disposing of it properly—and the soft component, which involves education and law enforcement,” she said.
Despite the efforts, she pointed to ongoing challenges in enforcing sanitation laws, largely due to inadequate funding and limited institutional support for environmental health officers.
She noted that many officers are often forced to use their own resources to carry out enforcement duties, making the process difficult and unsustainable.
Highlighting operational hurdles, Ing. Kuukyi explained that when offenders fail to appear in court and bench warrants are issued, officers must take on the responsibility of executing arrests—often without the necessary logistical backing. In some cases, they even have to cover basic costs such as printing court documents themselves.
She further raised concerns about the lack of financial support for prosecutorial processes, including preparing case dockets for court.
Ing. Kuukyi warned that weak enforcement continues to encourage indiscriminate waste disposal, undermining efforts to maintain clean environments.
She also stressed the broader socio-economic impact of poor sanitation, linking it to public health risks, economic strain, and reduced investor confidence.
“Poor sanitation fuels disease outbreaks, and that comes at a cost,” she said. “It doesn’t just affect household finances—it puts pressure on the healthcare system and discourages investment, ultimately leading to fewer job opportunities.”