Gbawe residents mad at AMA over dump site

Residents of Gbawe- Buleimli, Upper Weija and Sonitra in the Greater Accra region and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Weija, Rosemond C. Abrah, have criticized the decision by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and government to create an alternative refuse site at sonitra.

According to them, the move could lead to the contamination of both surface and ground water.

They claimed the proposed site is 10 meters away from the Bailey stream, which is the main source of drinking water for the residents.

At a public rally on Saturday to update members of the communities on developmental and social projects, members of Buleimli-Sonitra Joint Residents Association (BSJRA), a coordinating council for six associations, representing residents of the Gbawe Buleimli-Sonitra in an enclave of over 700 households, disclosed that dumping refuse in the Sonitra pit could lead to health crisis.

It would recalled that the AMA announced a couple of weeks ago in the wake of the cholera outbreak that it had acquired two new alternative dumping sites in the Ga South and Ga West Municipal Assemblies respectively in addition to the Kpone Katamanso refuse site.

But the residents have noted that the dumping refuse at the site would endanger their health.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the associations, Isaac Acquaye, in a statement, indicated that the residents were unhappy with the decision of the government and AMA.

According to him, AMA took the decision in a desperate attempt to clean Accra to tackle the outbreak of cholera that had reportedly killed over 115 persons.

He stressed that they blatantly failed to realize that dumping refuse in the Buliemli-Sonitra area could lead to an outbreak of disease in the area as well.

“Pipe water does not really flow within these communities and the only source of water for us is the Bailey river. And if the government and AMA should move ahead to dump refuse at the pit, it will further signify how careless they are about we the ordinary people,” Frank Okai Kyei, a resident of Gbawe Buleimli told DAILY GUIDE.

Ms. Abrah vowed not to sit aloof for the AMA and government to endanger the lives of her constituents for their “own selfish gains.”

She disclosed that AMA failed to consider the health problems it would pose to the people.

The MP further disclosed that aside the health issue, school-children around the pit could be hit by heavy trucks since the pit is said to be surrounded by 20 schools.

To this end, the residents have petitioned the government, AMA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through their legal experts, to reverse the decision.