Gadangme Union in Italy wake up call on Accra and filth

… Govt. must take responsibility

The Gadangme Union in Emilia Romagna, Italy, deserves a part on the back for the initiative it took about the sanitation problems in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.

Accra is sitting on filth and squalor and the visit by representatives of the Union to the Region to ascertain the nature of the problem and to reason with the chiefs and elders on how to tackle the problem is a bold step that has to be commended.

Not only that, the Union’s delegation took it a step further to make sure disposal of refuse by dumping it at certain unauthorised parts of the city is henceforth stopped. It also drew attention to the chiefs, elders, MPs of the city and authorities of refuse disposals about the health hazzards in dumping the wastes at these places, a situation which would definitely bring epidemic in the Region and eventually affect the whole country. The situation at other parts of the country, notwithstanding, does not paint a different picture. I applaud the Union also for the attention they drew before the chiefs and elders about the shrinking image of the Gadangme language (called ‘Ga’), its culture, the chieftancy disputes within their ranks, deforestation, the near extinction of rivers, lakes, ponds and lagoons due to human reclaimation of land for habitation, the indescriminate sales of the native lands, companies doing business on the Gadangme land and not paying ‘ground rent’ to any stool in the Region. All these which were discussed on their visit to Accra is affecting progress and development in the Region. They are issues that can cover a lot of space if all is to be addressed here but let me narrow it down to the sanitation problem in the city. Again, I repeat the situation is not much different from other parts of the country.

What boggles my mind is how the chiefs and elders, the people in authority and here I mean, MPs of the area, to a larger extent the Government are sitting down appearing oblivious to the filth of the city and for a group of its citizens residing abroad to come and remind them of the dangers they face under those unhygienic conditions.

The issue on disposal of wastes in the city and how contracts are awarded to companies on sanitation also brings to mind some few other questions. How did authorities assess these waste disposal companies to award them contracts? Did they evaluate their capabilities in the final disposal after collecting the refuse? Again it baffles me how the city of Accra and for that matter, Ghana’s capital city, doesn’t have even ONE incinerator. I may be wrong here but if that’s not the case why a company like Zoomlion, entrusted with refuse disposal in the city, of which I’m told is well equipped with trucks and other equipment, goes in the end to dump these refuse into pits outside the city? God, help us! Are the authorities unaware that with the rains and rubbish exposed they are breeding mosquitoes which will increase diseases like malaria, cholera and other deadly diseases?

If they have not given it a thought that in considering to improve sanitation the first line of consideration should be about an effective and non-hazzardous system to dispose finally of our refuse (and here the incinerator is inevitable) then we have a problem and huge one of course.

In that part of the world I live outsde Ghana sanitation is a major concern and its under careful scrutiny from the Government or the local Council and even if they should award contracts to private companies to handle it, it is ensured they will not fool around playing with the health and lives of the people. Unfortunately, in Ghana, that is the case. Most of our leaders and people who are in position of authority, under our mandate, have either stayed abroad or been abroad several times to the developed countries, they know or have seen how refuse disposals are managed through utilization for other purpsoses, disposing it through incinerators or through a system that will not endanger lives of the people. So why are they not using or considering such methods?

You may argue it’s the people’s responsibility to keep a clean environment to improve their health. Yes! But who is responsible in the final disposal of the rubbish? It’s the Government and they can do that through private companies but ensuring proper monitoring.

Accra’s sanitation problem should be a major concern and tackled with urgency since the road ahead is grave consequences if it remains unchecked.

No matter how much Gadangme natives abroad, any Ghanaians’ Organisation or citizens abroad pours in aid to improve sanitation or help with hospital materials, the situation on the health of the people will continue to suffer if they continue to drink infested water, live in an environment of filth and there is no proper mechanism of disposing refuse. The responsibility falls on who? The Government.