Central business district of Accra now relatively clean
The Central Business District of Accra is today relatively clean after it was cleared of filth recently.
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It appears the recent clean-up exercise initiated by the city authorities and supported by traders to rid the Central Business District of filth in the advent of the outbreak of cholera is paying off.
The usual huge piles of rubbish, which were often left uncollected by waste management companies for days, creating an eyesore, are no more.
Many of the streets in and around areas such as the Makola market, Tudu and Tema Station are clean and visibly without refuse containers, which hitherto were overflowing with refuse.
Choked gutters
By contrast, however, while the streets were clean, a number of the gutters were still choked with rubbish, particularly plastics and liquid waste, and a stench filled the air.
Even though a number of gutters were said to have been cleaned during the exercise, poor attitude on the part of residents towards the environment was causing the gutters to, once again, become filled with plastic and waste water.
It would be recalled that business activities in the Central Business District of Accra was halted temporarily on August 30, 2014, to allow traders to clean up their premises and to rid markets in Accra of filth.
Happy traders
On a visit by the Daily Graphic to the Central Business District recently, many traders lauded the city authorities for helping to address the deplorable insanitary conditions in Accra.
A lotto coupon seller at the Tema Station, Mrs Akua Pokua Afranie, was happy with the now clean environment but expressed her dissatisfaction with the rather large number of choked gutters in and around the station.
“At a time when we are struggling to contain cholera, you still find food vendors selling close to open gutters. We appear to be careless with this negative practice,” she said.
Ms Joana Acheampong, a trader at the Makola Market, said she could now go about her business comfortably in clean surroundings and worry less about sanitation.
“At least, now at every three-day interval, waste companies come to empty refuse containers and so we now have clean surroundings and enjoy a breath of fresh air,” she added.
At Tudu, Madam Esi Dankwah, a vegetable seller, was equally happy with the existing clean surroundings.
“I think our collective contribution to clean the market has paid off. All we need to do is to sustain the exercise,” she said.
Sceptism
Mrs Mary Osae, a second-hand bag seller, also acknowledged the clean environment in the business district, but wondered whether it was possible to keep the environment clean over a sustained period.
She blamed the poor attitude of Ghanaians with regard to the environment and called for education on environmental hygiene to be intensified in order for residents to form the habit of cleanliness.
“If the city authorities should keep up the exercise and educate the people on the need to keep their surroundings clean, we can be optimistic about trading in a healthy market,” she added.