INFINITY 970, BREATHE CITIES END 2026 AIR POLLUTION CAMPAIGN

Infinity 970, in partnership with global initiative Breathe Cities, officially concluded its 2026 Clean Air Campaign with an educational outreach event at the Lartebiokorshie Cluster of Schools in Accra on Friday, October 30, 2026. The ceremony brought together school health coordinators, municipal education officials, environmental sanitation officers, teachers, and pupils across multiple basic schools within the Ablekuma Central Municipality.

The campaign finale served as a creative platform for basic school students to demonstrate their understanding of air quality issues and environmental health through artistic expressions, presentations, and group challenges. Participating institutions within the cluster included Bukhari Islamic Basic School, Lartebiokorshie ‘1’ A KG and Primary School, Lartebiokorshie ‘6’ Primary School, Lartebiokorshie Presby JHS, and Lartebiokorshie 1B & 5 Basic School.

Addressing attendees at the ceremony, the Executive Director of Infinity 970, Barbara Davies, clarified that while air pollution has been a central focus throughout 2026, the organization’s mandate encompasses broader civic engagement and environmental sustainability programs across urban communities.

Commending the initiative, the Public Relations Officer for the Ablekuma Central Municipal Education Directorate, Jesus Julius Elis, praised Infinity 970 and Breathe Cities for bringing targeted environmental education directly into basic school classrooms.

During student presentations, pressing local environmental hazards came to light. Educators and pupils reported that emissions from manufacturing facilities located near the Lartebiokorshie Cluster of Schools are severely impacting classroom activity and respiratory health.

Highlighting the crisis, Deborah Kwenorkie Tetteh, a teacher and School Health Education Program (SHEP) coordinator at Lartebiokorshie 1B & 5 Basic School, detailed the daily exposure faced by students and called on regulatory authorities to step in.

"Some factories around the school are worrying us due to their operations," Tetteh stated, urging municipal officers to enforce safety buffer zones and regulate industrial smoke emissions near educational facilities. In response to the concerns, Alidu Abdul Wadud of the Municipal Health Sanitation Unit at Ablekuma Central outlined the assembly's regulatory responsibilities to news representatives, assuring school administrators that environmental health inspectors will evaluate factory compliance and address industrial smoke pollution surrounding school zones. The completion of the 2026 campaign marks a milestone in community-led air quality advocacy across Metropolitan Accra, following outreach drives across multiple assemblies, including the Ayawaso North Municipality.

Breathe Cities, a global clean air initiative funded by Clean Air Fund and C40 Cities, works alongside local civil society partners like Infinity 970 to combine low-cost air sensor technology, youth education, and municipal policy engagement to reduce dangerous ambient air pollution.

In high-density commercial and residential corridors such as Ablekuma Central, the encroachment of small-to-medium manufacturing plants near basic schools presents ongoing air quality challenges, elevating fine particulate matter PM 2.5 risks for young children.