It is disappointing that an occasion such as Christmas, where people try to make everything around them look beautiful, in keeping with the mood, our environment, especially in the capital city, has been turned upside down with filth.
In some parts of the city, a late evening drive through the streets seems like one is in a rubbish dump. Filth is all over, especially in market areas and also where street sellers gather.
Street markets
At the dawn of the festive celebration, street markets have popped up all over Accra as if there are no regulations governing selling on pavements and along the streets.
In the wake of it all, filth, crowds and vehicular traffic have made certain parts of the city no-go areas.
And as is the characteristic of pre-election weeks, sellers have poured out with some boldness, believing that because the political class will need their votes, the authorities would not dare drive them away.
It is shocking the way the Graphic Road from the Graphic Press, past Accra Brewery and right down to the Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, turn right past Cocoa Board offices to the UTC area, the centre of the city is choked with street sellers, pedestrians and vehicular movements, not to mention the filth.
One wonders how the businesses and offices along the route, particularly Graphic Communications Group and Accra Brewery, are coping.
With such huge inconveniences for their clients as well as the filth left over each day by these sellers and which are defacing their offices, do they complain to the city authorities and what are the responses they get?
One would have thought that with the massive support it has enjoyed coming into and staying in power for a year, an advantage would have been taken to do what is needful to bring sanity to the centre of Accra right in this first year of this administration.
How some of us would have clapped so hard.
Just a few days ago, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) threw an open invitation to the youth looking for jobs to walk into its offices to register for a GHS100-a-day street cleaning job to get the city ready for the festive occasion.
Is the registration on course? Did they get the number they wanted, and is Accra Central on their list?
The idea is a good one and should be an all-year-round engagement until the city is rid of filth.
Is anybody reflecting on the mess on some of our streets, with the interest of visitors in mind?
One can bet the boss of the Tourism Authority is very concerned.
On television earlier this week, she spoke about the Authority’s decision to engage in activities to continue to boost the interest of visitors, especially those visiting around this time of the year.
A clean city is, indeed, of interest to every visitor and an asset to the country.
She did mention working with some partner organisations towards presenting a beautiful and captivating city, activities and tourist attractions.
Certainly, no one would like to pay money to go and see a country’s mess with the environment.
It is rather the beauty that attracts and we all, as citizens, need to work at that.
One’s fear is that if AMA continues to close its eyes to the mess being added by the street capture, as one is seeing on some of the city’s streets, and takes no decisive actions to curtail it, the consequences of the phenomenon can be far-reaching.
With the filth they generate and leave behind, and with little or no public places of convenience, we have a huge problem with what is going on currently.
Little sparks of light can create a big fire and so if we do not speak about the mess now and sit aloof, these sellers will continue to get emboldened and many more would take a cue and move shop to join until the situation gets out of hand.
But that aside, who is taking care of the health and safety of consumers buying vegetables and other food items displayed on pavements and bare ground?
Are those methods of presenting food items for sale of public health concern?
No matter how much revenue the Assembly is generating from their daily collection of taxes from these sellers, the ultimate results would never be able to cover the health triggers that may be caused.
If the established markets are choked, how about alternative open markets once or twice a week, away from the streets, where active open selling of various goods is encouraged at each market?
The AMA could still make revenue while giving the sellers and buyers a more decent environment to trade in.
That way, those who want to patronise will still find time to go and do business in a more dignified environment than what they are currently exposed to.
It is time to address the problem of uncontrolled, unauthorised street businesses that are becoming a cause for concern.
Writer’s email:vickywirekoandoh@yahoo.com
