Nalerigu: The Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) is developing a comprehensive sanitation intervention for Bankuman, a suburb of Tema Manhean, described as one of the metropolis's most challenged areas. Madam Ebi Bright, the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, said the sanitation problems in Bankuman could not be resolved through routine clean-up exercises due to severe infrastructure deficits and access constraints.

According to Ghana News Agency, delivering a sessional address during an ordinary assembly meeting to assess TMA's activities and deliberate on planned programmes for the upcoming year, Madam Bright indicated that the assembly was working on long-term solutions to address drainage, waste evacuation, and environmental health issues in the area. She appealed to residents and assembly members to cooperate with the assembly and exercise patience as plans were being finalised.

Ms Bright emphasised that Bankuman and Tema Newtown faced severe, chronic sanitation challenges, stating: 'On Bankuman: let me be direct. Bankuman is not a problem that can be solved with a weekend clean-up. The waste management challenges are enormous.' She added: 'This is not an area where we can afford to act hastily and fail. When we move on Bankuman, we must be prepared to succeed. I ask for the patience and support of this House.'

Touching on the general sanitation of the Tema Metropolis, she acknowledged that sanitation was the foundation of public health and a marker of a civilised city, noting that President John Dramani Mahama had reminded district assemblies that sanitation was the primary yardstick by which they would be judged. Tema, she said, continued to face recurring sanitation challenges, including indiscriminate waste disposal, silted drains, and inadequate waste evacuation systems in some communities.

In response, the TMA had intensified enforcement and community-based sanitation campaigns under the Sanitation First agenda, with the Republic Community Four School pilot representing what the assembly aimed to achieve across the metropolis. 'Republic was chosen deliberately. Republic Basic School is Ghana's first public school in central Tema; it represents our heritage and our commitment to education. The community is also home to the Tor tree, the last surviving calabash tree from the original forest that covered this land before Tema became Ghana's first planned city. There is symbolism in starting there: we are restoring not just physical spaces, but the pride and memory of what Tema represents.'

She mentioned that challenges in ensuring good sanitation in Tema included resistance from some temporary structure owners, inadequate logistics, delayed waste evacuation, and low household participation in cleanup programmes. Ms Bright stressed that the most important lesson was that cleaning was the easy part, while sustainability was the hard part. 'We can clear an area today, but if there is no system to maintain it - no regular cleaning, no enforcement presence, no community ownership - it will return to its former state within weeks.'