The Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Professor Nana Ama Brown Klutse, has reiterated the call for a ban on styrofoam “takeaway packs” and other forms of single-use plastics as a major step towards addressing the perennial flooding wreaking havoc across the country.
Speaking during a call on the Western Regional Minister, Joseph Nelson, as part of her three-day tour, Prof. Klutse said although heavy rainfall cannot be prevented, measures could be taken to keep drains and watercourses free from solid waste to ensure the smooth flow of floodwaters into the ocean.
Drains choked
She said Ramsar sites, which are wetlands that serve as vital ecological habitats and act as natural flood barriers for surrounding communities, have shrunk due to severe human encroachment and drains choked with all forms of plastic.
Prof. Klutse said that while heavy rainfall contributed to flooding, human activities such as building on watercourses and the indiscriminate disposal of plastic waste have significantly worsened the problem the country is witnessing.
Prof. Klutse said the Accra floods epitomised the level of impunity and the irresponsible use of plastics, and their consequences for the country, adding that the causes were three major factors: heavy rains; obstruction of natural water pathways through illegal construction and the dumping of styrofoam and other plastics into drains and water bodies.
Water pathways
"For the problem, the heavy rain is one of them – that we cannot stop as it is nature’s way.
But we also see that the pathways for water to flow into major rivers and wetlands are blocked because developers have encroached and built on these watercourses,” she said.
“The sad part of our situation is the styrofoam, plastics and other waste materials dumped into drains, blocking floods from flowing freely, resulting in high current floods finding their way into people's homes, blocking streets, shops, factories, taking lives among many others," she stated.
Her office, she said, with the support of President John Dramani Mahama, would continue to enforce the ban on Styrofoam and engage stakeholders on plans to extend it to single-use plastics.
According to her, the successful implementation of the ban, coupled with public cooperation, will go a long way to reduce flooding during the rainy season.
Environment is achieved
"We believe that if Ghanaians cooperate with us and support the enforcement of the ban, by May, June and July next year, we will not see flooding in our watercourses and major cities as we do today," she said.
Mr Nelson commended the leadership of the EPA for the new energy to get things done to ensure that its mandate as a national body responsible for protecting and managing the environment was achieved.
Environmental sustainability
The minister said the Western Regional Coordinating Council was ready to partner interested organisations to ensure environmental sustainability and a safe environment”.
He indicated that while rainfall was a natural occurrence, greed and other human activities, such as indiscriminate disposal, illegal mining, and the extraction of other industrial materials, were largely part of the problems we were facing and must be confronted immediately.
He urged members of the public to serve as environmental ambassadors and report illegal activities to the agencies responsible for ensuring the safe disposal of waste.
