AMA must act on this call!

Last week Parliament’s Select Committee on Local Government, chaired by Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Madam Patricia Appiagyei, toured the Lavender Hill/Mudor Waste Treatment Plant at Korle Gonno in Accra.

The object of the tour was to allow members of the Committee to familiarise themselves with operations of the plant which was commissioned by former President John Dramani Mahama late last year.

While the Committee was impressed by the operations of the plant, which is being managed by Sewerage System Ghana Limited (SSGL), a subsidiary of Jospong Group of Companies, and thus commended them, the Managing Director of SSGL, Haidar M. Said, urged Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to put in place measures that will ensure that nobody discharges liquid waste into the sea.

WITH the faecal plant fully operational one would have expected that the practice where liquid waste is discharged into the sea in the capital city will cease.

However, from the call of the MD of SSGL to AMA, it appears that this age-long practice is still with us.

There is reason to believe that some of the cesspit emptier trucks still sneak to discharge faecal waste into the sea.

WHY this has not stopped even after the commissioning of Lavender Hill/Mudor Waste Treatment Plant in November last year is something we cannot comprehend.

Many of us know the history behind Lavender Hill, a popular waste hub, notoriously known for direct dumping of liquid waste into the sea,

Prior to the shutting down of the over a century plant, the scent that emanated from the place was just unbearable, especially for residents around Korle Gonno. In fact Korle Gonno residents were not the only ones who were compelled on daily basis to inhale this repulsive scent, commuters travelling by the Mortuary road to the central business district (CBD) of Accra, were equally not spared.

IT was common to see commuters and passengers who use the Mortuary road covering their noses with handkerchiefs or their hands. That was done to escape the scent at Lavender Hill, notwithstanding its associated health risks.

Today a visit to the area shows that that sickening scent associated with Lavender Hill area has been reduced drastically, thanks to the multi-purpose liquid waste treatment plant. However, it is worrying when one still hears of reports that some cesspit emptier trucks discharge liquid waste into the sea. That is bad and must not be entertained now that a treatment plant at Lavender Hill has been put in place.

It is in the light of the above that we add our voice to the call on the AMA to help deter people from disposing liquid waste directly into the sea.

This, Today believes, the AMA must do by setting up a taskforce whose duty will be to apprehend those who continue to engage in the practice.

And more so, such persons when caught must be made to face the full width of the law to serve as a deterrent to others. We must learn to change our bad practices so the nation can move forward.