Keeping our environment clean

Today, Accra alone generates more than 2,500 tonnes of garbage every day, far beyond the capacity of all the waste management companies to handle. The city has also grown beyond the traditional suburbs but there are constraints on resources to provide social services to make life comfortable for the people.

The growing population of Accra and the urban centres has put pressure on all service providers, to the extent that yawning gaps have emerged between the capacity of the waste disposal companies and the actual garbage generated by residents, and because the facilities are not available to absorb the waste, many residents have decided to just throw litter around any how, regardless of the environmental and health consequences.

 Once upon a time, local authorities had a corps of dreaded sanitary inspectors, otherwise known as “Sama Sama”, who could sanction anybody who kept his or her surroundings filthy. There were even stories that the sanitary inspectors visited kitchens to inspect cooking utensils and water pots to ascertain if they had been properly cleaned.

That rigid inspection mechanism kept all the people on their toes, as heads of households made sure that members of their households respected the tenets of environmental hygiene. The authorities achieved a high level of compliance with good environmental hygiene because of the sanctions that were imposed by the local administrations and even the courts.

The Daily Graphic thinks the time has come for the authorities to apply the laws on those who are bent on polluting the environment with garbage.

Meanwhile, we commend the waste management company, Zoomlion Company Limited, for its decision to embark on public education in order to change people’s behaviour towards waste disposal in the country.

The realisation is that the sophisticated equipment that is deployed to manage waste will not, per se, achieve a clean environment without a change in attitude.

Everybody must resolve never to throw garbage around indiscriminately. We must always look for litter bins to dump our garbage. The tendency to throw out litter from moving vehicles is also an eyesore.

The Daily Graphic appeals to Zoomlion, other waste companies and the district assemblies to provide litter bins at vantage points for garbage disposal. If that is accompanied by public education, then residents will have no excuse to continue in their bad habits of indiscriminate disposal of garbage.

Recycling of plastic waste will also help get rid of the waste and provide employment for those who will collect the plastic waste.

We call on all to make waste disposal a shared responsibility to ensure that the environment supports sustainable development.