Sunyani losing its cleanest city status

Sunyani, arguably the cleanest city in the country, has a hidden dark spot which needs to be addressed.

Though the streets of Sunyani are very clean, it is not uncommon to find haphazard disposal of solid and liquid waste at some of the suburbs, which poses a major health hazard to those living nearby.

The inadequate refuse trucks and final disposal sites, lack of appropriate domestic toilets in most houses, as well as absence of cesspool emptier to service even the few houses with toilet facilities, are some of the reasons for the insanitary conditions in parts of the Municipality.

To help improve the situation, the Municipal Assembly, in collaboration with Zoomlion Ghana Limited, has intensified a type of waste collection system within the municipality, which is the communal collection, where residents dispose of their waste in containers placed at collection points for final collection.

The collected waste will then be transported directly to the final disposal site at Waterloo, near the Sunyani Polytechnic GETFund Hostel, which is about 15 minutes’ drive from the Central Business District.

House to house collection, where the collectors enter the house or the courtyard to carry the storage bins into the vehicle to empty them has now become common in the municipality, due to the coming in of Zoomlion.

But due to the congestion of the buildings, no proper drains have been constructed in the affected suburbs, thus making it impossible for dirty water to drain away freely. As a result the water becomes stagnant and bread mosquitoes.

Sometimes, the delay in collection of refuse to the final disposable dump site has become another challenge, with the people of Newtown Extension being the worst victims. Teachers and pupils of the Methodist JHS suffer most during class hours, because the refuse containers are very close to the school.

The Assemblyman for the Area, Lawrence Amponsah said numerous appeals have been made at the Sunyani Municipal Assembly to provide the area with two containers to collect the bins, but to no avail.

Mr. Kwasi Oppong Ababio, Sunyani MCE, however, assured that he would work assiduously towards ensuring a clean and hygienic environment for a healthy society.