Regional capitals not spared refuse menace
The problem the country was facing with regard to unsanitary conditions is becoming acute also in the regional capitals. The Daily Graphic reporters in some of the regions have come through with reports depicting ver unpleasant situation.
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Vincent Amenuveve in Bolgatanga writes that the greatest threat to the health of the people in the Upper East Region is open defecation and this situation has been made worse by the numerous stray animals that leave their excreta behind as they roam in communities.
The regional capital, Bolgatanga, continues to score low marks in sanitation and open defecation rankings for capitals of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Areas (MMDAs) in the country.
Experts in environmental sustainability say the sanitation issue in Bolgatanga and indeed other areas in the region is an attitudinal problem that ought to be tackled through constant public education while applying sanctions and prosecuting those who flout sanitary regulations as well as others who remain recalcitrant.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Mr Worlanyo Siabi, the Upper East Region had the poorest score with regard to a national sanitation ranking.
The problem with sanitation in the region is attributed partly to the absence of improved latrines and the unwillingness of home owners to install toilets in their homes.
Activities
The Bolgatanga Municipal Environmental Health Unit says it has mapped out some strategies to help address the situation.
According to the Municipal Environmental Health Officer, Mr Leo Logochura, between February and June this year, 13 households in the municipality have had toilets installed following public education programmes and notices served on landlords to have toilets fixed or face prosecution.
He said another measure put in place by the unit to stop people from defecating in open spaces was to improve the environment.
He said the Children's Park for instance had been upgraded and placed under surveillance to deter people from using the place as a toilet grounds.
Meanwhile, he said there were efforts to fence off the Old Bolgatanga Market and place a gate at the entrance to prevent people from defecating inside the market.
Challenges
Mr Logochura said constraints with logistics and inadequate staffing were major challenges hampering the efforts of the unit to address problems of sanitation in the municipality.
Sunyani
Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah reports that Sunyani, the Brong Ahafo Regional Capital, is gradually losing its accolade as the cleanest city in the country, as there is rubbish almost everywhere in the municipality.
Many of the suburbs in the municipality have choked gutters, mounting refuse has been left uncollected for weeks and there is pungent smell in the air, which creates the picture of a city in distress.
MCE’s concern
The Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, Dr (Mrs) Evelyn Ama Kumi-Richardson, said even though the assembly was doing all it could to improve the sanitation situation, there was still more to be done for the city to achieve its lost glory.
“We cannot run away from the effects of an increasing urbanisation and inadequate means of collecting household refuse, which is causing people to use the gutters as refuse receptacles,” she said.
According to her, the way out was for the people to change their poor attitude towards the environment by deciding to dispose their waste responsibly.
Dumping site
The heaps of refuse which have not been cleared over a period are now breeding mosquitoes, rodents and reptiles and are becoming a threat to communities (such as Zongo Abetifi) which are close to that huge pile of refuse.
Traders at the Chiraa Station and the Sunyani Main Market (Masom masom Area) are not spared the harassment from insects and rodents.
A 42-year-old trader, Mr Ibrahim Musah, said they lived in fear of an outbreak of diseases because the refuse near the market had not been collected for a long time and.
In spite of the mounting heaps of rubbish, people are still found adding onto the uncollected waste as others still continue to defecate on the piles.
Tamale
Samuel Duodu writes from TAMALE that residents’ poor attitudes towards the environment, coupled with the inability of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TaMA) to enforce its sanitation bye-laws, are the causes of the worsening environmental situation in Tamale.
Even though refuse containers have been placed at vantage points in the city, residents still continue to litter the streets and also discard their refuse indiscriminately.
Some residents interviewed by the Daily Graphic admitted that the disposed of their waste, which are mostly tied plastic and polythene materials in gutters and anywhere within the community on the blind side of the city authorities.
They said they did so because there were not enough refuse disposal sites in the city.
On a tour of the central business district of Tamale, this writer found people littering the streets.
A resident of Sabonjida, Abdul Latif, told the Daily Graphic that if the city was not dirtied, there would be no work for the workers of Zoomlion, a private waste management company, to undertake.
City authorities
The city authorities say poor sanitation in the metropolis had led to the city’s sewerage system becoming choked with solid waste and contributing to the spread of infectious diseases and flooding whenever it rained, as was experienced quite recently.
The Public Relations Officer of the TaMA, Mr Musah Issah, told the Daily Graphic that the assembly, in collaboration with the environmental agency in the metropolis, was undertaking intensive public education on sanitation aimed at sensitising the public to the benefits of a clean environment.
