Health officials warn of epidemic in Takoradi
Health officials have warned of an epidemic in the central business district of Takoradi unless urgent steps are taken to clear the refuse in the area.
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Currently, there are a lot of liquid discharges from the overflowing refuse containers at the Market Circle with an accompanying pungent smell.
The situation has come about as a result of failure of Zoomlion, the waste management company assigned to collect waste in the area to do its work.
The inner perimetre of the market had tons of waste which had been left for a number of days and the cleaners were not even on site to start sweeping the previous day’s waste.
While shoppers were worried about the health implications of the situation, hawkers were busy displaying their wares - from cooked food, fruits, vegetables and other foodstuff - around the overflowing waste containers.
Clinical services
The Regional Deputy Director of Health in charge of clinical services, Dr Atsu Doordor, said with the prevailing sanitation conditions at the various market places in the STMA, there were clear indications that members of the general public who thronged those markets were being exposed to diseases.
He said those who would be patronising the market might not only be buying foodstuff but diseases as well, especially if they did not cook their food very well.
He expressed concern about a possible cholera outbreak if the waste was not cleared before the rains set in.
Who is in charge of the area?
Some traders the Daily Graphic spoke to complained bitterly about the situation in spite of the fact that they paid fees for the collection of the waste.
One of the traders, Maame Abena said: “We pay everyday. The tax collectors from the assembly give us ticket everyday and I wonder if the officials could not see the mess in the market.”
Although some buyers were not comfortable with the situation, some of them said they were left with no option but to buy from the area.
Nana Adjoa, who was in the market to buy, said the filthy nature of the gutters in the market itself was no different from what pertained inside.
“Sometimes, I have to buy with so much apprehension because the sanitation condition in the market is not the best,” she said.
Nana Adjoa gave an example of buying from a woman who had just finished urinating in a container. This woman, without washing her hands, wanted to sell tomatoes to her.
At Zoomlion
At the office of the Zoomlion, the Deputy Regional Manager, Mr Edward Keteku, acknowledged the problem and its health implications.
He said the size and the quantity of communal containers at the said location were not enough to meet the demands of the market women, adding that “the problem has to do with the residential facilities in the central business district, where members of the households troop to the area under the cover of darkness to dump their waste for free,” he said.
“We at Zoomlion are very much aware of the health implication because all sorts of waste are dumped there - from human excreta to domestic waste,” he said.
Asked about the solution, he said: “some of the solution was to relocate the containers from their current location but the assembly said they didn’t have another location.”