The Christian Council of Ghana has urged authorities to move away from a crisis-driven approach to sanitation, warning against waiting for floods before undertaking nationwide clean-up exercises.

Vice Chairman of the Council, Right Reverend Abraham Nana Opare Kwakye, raised the concern at the launch of the Second Ecumenical Convention, where he stressed the need for continuous efforts to improve sanitation and protect the environment.

According to him, the enthusiasm generated by the recent nationwide clean-up exercise following the floods could quickly fade now that the immediate crisis has passed.

He said maintaining clean communities must become a sustained national responsibility rather than an activity triggered by disasters.

“The problem is that the floods are over, and so it looks like we are going back to our old ways, waiting for the next set of floods, and then we will have another general cleaning,” he said.

The Christian Council commended President John Dramani Mahama and his administration for initiating the nationwide clean-up exercise after the flooding.

However, the Council stressed that such interventions should form part of a broader and continuous sanitation strategy rather than serve only as a response to emergencies.

Right Reverend Opare Kwakye warned that abandoning sanitation efforts until the next major flooding incident could reverse the progress made and leave communities exposed to environmental and public health risks.

He called for sustained measures to address poor waste management and other environmental conditions that contribute to flooding across the country.