A total of 867 officers, constituting the first batch of the City Response Team (CRT) under the ‘Operation Clean Your Frontage’ campaign, yesterday passed out in Accra.
With help from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), these officers underwent a four-week intensive training in basic knowledge drills, crowd control, VIP protection, personal security, sanitation bye-laws, check points, voice procedure, taskforce and civilian relationships.
They will in the coming month assist the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and Security Agencies in the regions, in the areas of traffic management, education on good waste management practices and stopping the selling and parking at unauthorised areas, especially in the Central Business District (CBD).
They are also expected to enforce road traffic regulations with regard to the ban on the use of motorised tricycle ‘aboboya’ on principal streets, receive calls on complaints or reports from the public and direct them to the appropriate quarters for action.
Again, the team would enforce the cleaning and greening of the frontage of buildings bye-laws under the ‘Operation Clean Your Frontage’ campaign and sensitise people on the need to change their attitude and adopt best practices to keep the environment clean.
The Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery who represented President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his remarks commended the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council under the leadership of the Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, for the initiative.
He said the ‘Let’s Make Greater Accra Work’ campaign was in alignment with the President’s vision of making Accra the cleanest city in Africa.
This, he added would respond to the region’s waste management and sanitation challenges, create opportunities for sustainable urban and economic growth in the context of enhanced security, clean and green environment, public private partnership and good urban governance.
Mr Dery indicated that it would sanitise the principal and major roads in the region, reduce dumping of waste at open spaces and in water ways, improve waste collection, green and clean environment and create more than 3,000 jobs.
Mr Henry Quartey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister who reiterated that the establishment of the CRT was a long-term plan to maintain discipline and order in the urban region, adding that the ‘‘Operation clean your frontage’’ would serve as a one-stop-shop for all activities under the campaign, including regional Call Centre and offices for the CRT.
“There will be a two-way communication involving the use of a sanitation app developed by the National Service Scheme to support the campaign and a radio network linking all the 29 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to the centre.”
He advised them to be guided by the code of conduct and the bye-laws in the discharge of their duties by refraining from arrogating to themselves powers not vested in them.