Ahead of the May edition of the National Sanitation Day (NSD) exercise, which is set for Saturday, May 2, 2026, the Mayor of Accra, Hon. Michael Kpakpo Allotey, has spearheaded a public awareness campaign in the Central Business District (CBD), urging traders, shop owners, hawkers, and all business operators to fully participate.
Speaking to traders on Monday morning, the Mayor emphasised that no commercial activity would be allowed during the clean-up time and declared that the impending sanitation effort was mandatory for everyone conducting business inside the Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s (AMA) authority.
He stated that all vendors were urged to halt operations and participate in the exercise, including those working on sidewalks, table-top vendors, hawkers, sachet water vendors, coconut vendors, chop bar operators, fishmongers and store owners.
He claimed that the Assembly’s continuous efforts to keep the capital cleaner and avoid floods during the rainy season made the May edition of the NSD especially significant.
According to him, Accra still floods every time it rains because public areas, markets, and sewers are frequently clogged with trash, necessitating the cooperation of locals and traders.
The mayor asked vendors to take care of their local surroundings by clearing trash, sweeping market areas, desilting drains, and making sure that water could run freely whenever it rained.
He clarified that the exercise would be finished by 10:00 a.m., even if it was slightly delayed. He also added that the temporary suspension of operations was required to safeguard people’s lives, property, and means of subsistence from flooding and unsanitary conditions.
In answer to a query concerning the collecting of market tolls from vendors on sanitation day, the mayor stated that daily fees were only collected from vendors on days when the AMA was open, as part of efforts to support the 24-hour economy.
He urged all traders to fulfil their toll commitments, pointing out that the GH¢2 daily toll paid by traders was utilised to fund waste collection and other urban development initiatives.
The Mayor emphasised the necessity for complete participation from all traders, regardless of the kind of items they sold or where they operated, and urged them to collaborate with the Assembly and refrain from engaging in any kind of trading during the cleanliness exercise.
He threatened to arrest, punish, and prosecute anyone who did not take part in the exercise or who disobeyed the order by trading during the cleanup period.
The Mayor emphasised that sufficient public education and warning would have been provided before to the exercise and warned that the Assembly would not accept justifications from violators.
Source: newsthemegh.com