General News of 2013-01-03

Accra faces serious sanitation crisis

The Accra Metropolis faces dire sanitation crisis as the city authority, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA),has failed to get a dumping site for the 2,000 tonnes of garbage which is generated daily.

The AMA’s difficulty in getting a ‘landfill’ site to dump is partly rooted in a legal tussle between Zoomlion Ghana Limited and Meskworld Limited, both solid waste contractors, claiming ownership of the about 15-acre pit at Sonitra, Weija.

Currently, the AMA does not have its own landfill site, and therefore depends on private companies which have acquired and manage those sites.

Presently, solid waste contractors operating in the capital are dumping at Achimota and Abokobi, both of which have become environmental nightmares for people living in those parts of Accra due to either constant smoke or stench from them.

A permanent and appropriate dumping site, according to officials of the AMA, was needed urgently to avert any environmental and health problems for the city.

Officials of the AMA indicate that but for the legal battle between the two companies, it would have been easy for solid waste contractors to get a place to dump.

“The problem is now a national one and must be tackled as such. Solid waste management may become more difficult soon if we are not able to get a place to dump”, an official of the assembly, who pleaded anonymity, stated.

Consequently, solid waste contractors are all dumping at Achimota, behind the new terminal, which has generated enormous public disaffection due to what residents describe as unbearable odour emanating from the pile of garbage.

Some residents are already contemplating moving from the area to safeguard their health and that of members of their families.

Meanwhile, experts indicate that the prolonged exposure of residents in the area to odours could have detrimental impact on their health, aside the minimal headaches, nausea, drowsiness, fatigue and respiratory problems.