Ghana manages only 30 percent of her waste - Dr Dartey

Apremdo, (W/R), Nov. 26, GNA - Ghana is able to manage only 30 per cent of her solid and liquid waste generated daily by human and industrial activities, Dr Doris Yaa Dartey, a Communication and Sanitation Consultant has said.

She said the remaining 70 per cent, accounted for the incremental heap of rubbish found across the country particularly in the capital resulting in poor sanitation and diseases.

Dr Dartey, who facilitated a two-day professional development workshop on sanitation for media practitioners in the Western Region, blamed the situation on the lack of proper landfill sites. "The whole country can boast of only two engineered landfill sites - Tamale and Kumasi," she added.

Dr Dartey noted that the "Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey" also revealed that 51 per cent of Ghanaians used shared latrines and in West Africa, Ghana ranked 14 out of 15 countries beating only Niger to the position in terms of proper sanitation management. In relation to diseases and ailment, poor sanitation also accounted for 80 per cent of Out Patient Department (OPD) cases of malaria, diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera and hepatitis adding that its environmental implications were fast destroying the ecology.

She said poor sanitation impacted negatively on the individual's dignity, impeded productivity and put millions of people in abject poverty while national tourism was also affected. Dr Dartey therefore called for stringent enforcement of the bye-laws on sanitation by the assemblies, discipline on the part of Ghanaians and general attitudinal change to deal with the situation. Mr Ahmed Sulley, Environmental Officer of the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, who gave an overview of the sanitation situation in the metropolis, said the assembly had taken delivery of new sanitation equipment to enable it to effectively deal with the emerging sanitation crisis.

He said the assemblies were poised to protect the health of the individual especially with the oil find and the influx of people. Mr Sulley said the Assembly had reviewed its bye-laws to meet the current sanitation challenges and cautioned against interference from any quarters that may hamper effective sanitation management in the metropolis. 26 Nov. 09