Cape Coast, April 8, GNA - Rapid urbanization in West African cities has translated into environmental pollution through improper disposal of solid waste.

Members of Integrated Waste Management in Western Africa (IWWA) together with the Centre for Environmental Impact Analysis, an environmental NGO based in Cape Coast, Zoomlion Ghana Limited and the College of Engineering KNUST have therefore appealed to African governments to implement feasible solid waste management policies. In a press statement issued in Cape Coast on Friday and copied to the Ghana News Agency, the IWWA also called for an effective strategy to deal with solid waste management in West Africa.

These policies include the governments' adoption of a spatial planning in collection, disposal and recycling of solid waste, by ensuring full decentralization in the management of solid waste, and the allocation of a substantial amount of finances for solid waste management and a strict enforcement of sanitation laws by agencies. The statement said the Integrated Waste Management Project by the IWWA is aimed at ensuring recycling and proper disposal of solid waste to help in the realization of the MDG goal seven of promoting sustainable environment by the year 2015

The IWWA said factors like lack of spatial planning, unstructured decentralized policies and weak enforcement of solid waste and sanitation laws impeded perpetual achievement in management of solid waste.

Others include non-involvement of traditional authorities in waste management, use of minors in disposal of waste and lack of expertise to implement integrated long lasting waste management policies.

IWWA appealed to governments to train more expertise on solid waste management, sensitize and educate the public on the need for adult supervision of solid waste by minors and tap expertise from traditional authorities since they are known to have implemented waste management control mechanisms in the past. 08 April 11