Campaign to keep Dar clean December 1- 9

DEOGRATIUS KAMAGI

THE cleanliness campaign that is aimed at checking re-occurrence of cholera in marking 54th Independence Anniversary in Dar es Salaam Region will take place between December 1 and 9, Regional Commissioner (RC) Saidi Meck Sadiki has said.

The RC was briefing reporters on the strategies and plan that have been made by the regional administration to implement the directives that were made by President John Magufuli recently.

He said, at the regional level they have arranged and prepared collaborative efforts starting from local authorities to ensure that every member of the society with no regard to their status participates fully in the environmental cleanliness exercise during the week.

“Fighting cholera goes hand in hand with cleaning our surrounding environment, there is no way to escape from this exercise...let’s join our efforts to ensure all water-borne diseases are eliminated,” he said.

He said everyone in the region should be ready to implement the directives from the president as it has been made for the betterment of the country. Mr Sadik added that the cleaning exercise will be progressive to ensure better health for all people and prevent them from unnecessary maladies which in turn cost a lot of money from the national budget.

“This fund should be reallocated to other developmental projects therefore we have to be serious in everything that will be done. The focus is to reduce unnecessary expenditures to help the country meet its economic goals,” he said.

Speaking further, he said street food vendors must comply with sanitary regulations including washing dishes with hot water and prepare warm water for hand washing with soap.

The RC also warned the vendors who have been misinterpreting the promise made by President Magufuli during the election campaigns, adding that he did not promise to protect vendors who violate the law.

He said some of the vendors tend to operate in dirty areas which risk the lives of their customers and claiming that the president promised to protect them.

Mr Sadiki also directed health officers in collaboration with local government authorities to inspect and monitor cleanliness of each household every day to strengthen sanitary conditions.

In another development, Mr Sadiki explained that they have also started to review the regional budget to check the possibility of reducing the unnecessary expenditures and in order for it to be channelled to other urgent services.