The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has called for urgent investment in equipment and logistics for environmental health officers, warning that Ghana’s sanitation efforts could suffer if the frontline workforce remains under-resourced.
The Assembly’s Public Health Director, Florence Kuukyi, said environmental health officers across the country are working under difficult conditions, often without the basic tools needed to enforce sanitation regulations.
Speaking in an interview on Dwaso Nsem on Adom FM, Mrs Kuukyi revealed that many officers have had to purchase their own uniforms and protective gear due to the lack of official supplies.
“In the past, government provided uniforms, but now we don’t. I have been doing environmental work for the past 20 years without a uniform. I have to buy it on my own,” she said.
She explained that the absence of uniforms and basic working tools undermines the authority of environmental health officers when they attempt to enforce sanitation laws.
“It is because we don’t have uniforms that there is no compliance,” she stated.
Mrs Kuukyi compared the situation to the security services, arguing that just as government equips the police and other security agencies to fight crime, sanitation officers must also be properly resourced to perform their duties effectively.
“If we want to fight crime, we retool security agencies, so we should do the same thing for sanitation officers,” she said.
Beyond uniforms, she noted that many officers lack offices, logistics and protective equipment required for fieldwork.
“At the district levels, some people don’t even have offices. They sit in the same place with their bosses. We don’t have logistics and protective clothing. How do you work effectively? We don’t even have common gloves,” she said.
Mrs Kuukyi stressed that sanitation plays a key role in tourism development, warning that poor hygiene conditions could affect Ghana’s reputation and economic prospects.
“Sanitation issues drive tourism. If we want to take sanitation seriously, we must equip the officers,” she said.
She also emphasised the critical role environmental health officers play in maintaining public safety, noting that their work goes beyond sanitation inspections to include handling sensitive situations such as clearing refuse, addressing open defecation and removing decomposing bodies found in public spaces.
“If environmental officers decide to strike, nobody can walk in this country. Every day we need to clear refuse,” she warned.
Drawing a comparison with law enforcement, she added that a strike by environmental health officers could have severe consequences.
“We are just like the police going on strike. Crime will take a different turn and we may all die. Dirt will choke us to death,” she said.
Mrs Kuukyi therefore urged government to prioritise the retooling of environmental health officers, insisting that improving sanitation standards in Ghana requires adequately equipped personnel committed to protecting public health.
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