Battle against filth must be won
The sanitation problem in the country has been a concern to many for years.
Huge refuse dumps and choked drains have become a part of us. Used black plastic bags adorn our streets and the huge presence of flies as a result of stench from our filth characterises our cities.
Unfortunately, the situation is no different at our markets, the very place from where we buy our food. Vegetables and other food items are displayed on the bare ground for sale to consumers.
In this same environment, food vendors cook and sell food. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that we continue to grapple with cholera and other diseases on a perennial basis.
The city authorities have been overwhelmed by the problem. Their attempts to create new landfill sites for the disposal of refuse have been met with fierce resistance from the residents of the areas they have chosen because of the health consequences.
For months, therefore, some residents of the city have had to live with their gathered garbage because the refuse trucks which are expected to collect the garbage do not turn up. The truck owners complain about low collection fees and a difficulty with where to dump what they collect.
The argument, therefore, that the Ghanaian’s penchant for indiscriminately disposing of rubbish can only be part of the problem.
But, more importantly, the loss of lives and man hours due to ill health, which goes to affect our productivity, and the huge amount of money spent on health are unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue.
It is in this light that the Daily Graphic lauds the order given by the Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the sanitation agencies to clear all refuse from unapproved dump sites in the metropolis within 10 days.
Our rounds indicated that between last Monday and yesterday, much work has been done in line with the Vice- President’s directive.
But did the city authorities need the Vice-President to tell them to do what they are paid to do?
It is our view that beyond this 10-day directive, there should be a sustained effort to clear our environment of filth.
The city authorities have the task to do this and must have a reason for this failure. When this failure is addressed, they should be tasked to put in place more effective and sustained ways of managing the country’s waste. Systems for recycling waste and compost plants which have been mentioned many times, for instance, could be considered.
Again, there is the need for citizens to change their approach to waste generation and handling. We all have to admit that we have not done enough to save our environment from filth and its attendant repercussions.
A country struggling to develop cannot continue to live in such filth. In addition to the benefits we stand to gain from ensuring a clean environment is the attraction of the needed foreign investment into the various sectors of the economy for national development.
Ad hoc measures must be replaced by more effective, sustainable and reliable methods of keeping our country clean. We cannot fail because the consequences of not doing that would be dire.
