APRIL 25

Inside APRIL 25, 2019.qxp_Layout 1 4/25/19 3:27 PM Page 11
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Opinion
DAILY HERITAGE THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019
Water is life, but faces domestic violence
BY ANIMA JACQUELINE, STUDENT, GIJ
IPERFECTLY remember the
ordeal I went through waiting
for hours before, to my
surprise, I could collect unclean
brownish water, whose
impurities had to settle
down to make it a little attractive
for any domestic activities like
cooking, drinking or bathing.
This was my experience in my
hometown for some weeks. It was
like a vacation on the Sahara
Desert, where water is very scarce
and so with the little available, one
would have to manage to be able
to survive for the rest of your life
time. I am very certain that you
might have gone through a similar
situation which made you to realize
that indeed ' Water is life'.
In sub-Saharan Africa, one of
the the numerous resources we
boast of is water unlike places
such as Yemen, Libya, Jordan, and
Djibouti. But as to whether we
really appreciate it is the headache
of the government and some sanitation
organizations.
Nature, in its own wisdom, has
blessed us with streams, lakes,
•A water scene
rivers, the seas and other water
bodies to serve as home for
aquatic beings, and for farming,
domestic activities such as drinking,
washing, and cooking, and
other uses.
Today, it is so sad that water,
with its numerous benefits, is undergoing
unfair hard punches
from humans who need it most to
survive. According to Mr. Ben
Ampomah, Executive Secretary of
Water Resources,
"about 60% of
Ghana's water bodies
are polluted". (source
:GNA)
Iceland's Blue Lagoon,
for instance, is
one of the beautiful
lagoons and its beauty
attracts more tourists
and serves as a source
of income for the
country. However, the
Korle Lagoon in
Accra, on the other
hand, has lost its
beauty to becoming
the principal receptacle
into which all
major drainage channels
in the city empty
their wastes and it, in
turn, empties everything
into the sea.
Large amounts of untreated
industrial waste
emptied into the
drains have led to severe
pollution of the lagoon and
disrupted its natural ecology.
As the government spends
huge sums of money to dredge
the river to get rid of its silt and
loads of garbage from it, residents
are also in full force throwing all
manner of waste materials into the
Odaw river, thus cutting back all
effort put in place to clear its
bruises.
Many of our beautiful rivers
are ironically polluted by individuals
who live near and depend on
them as major sources of drinking
water. Take, for example, the pollution
from galamsey. Our seas
too have consumed a lot of plastic
waste and faecal matter, which is
killing our fishes. Fishermen now
go to the sea and return home
with nets full of plastics instead of
fish and this is ripping apart
tourism in Ghana in a way and
soon, the beaches would not be an
attractive place anymore.
A Sustainable Development
Goal is clear that there should be
water for all by 2030, which means
"leaving no one behind ". If so,
why don't you and I join forces to
save what we have since other
people in other parts of the world
are struggling to have water.
The writer is a level 300 student
of the Ghana Institute of
Journalism
Can we win the sanitation war at Labadi?
BY EMMANUEL ASARE, STUDENT, GIJ
ON A visit to any city in Ghana
today one would see heaps of
garbage everywhere, including
streams and gutters.
The problem of solid waste
management is a direct result of
challenges, including the rapidly
growing urban population, few
waste treatment options in Ghana,
irregular collection of solid waste,
negative habits and apathy of the
general public towards the environment.
The rate at which solid waste is
growing on our streets and in
drainage is so menacing that it is
difficult to tell when “Accra is
going to be the cleanest city in
Africa” as declared by the Akufo-
Addo-led administration since it
assumed power after the 2016
general elections would be
achieved.
Speaking at a recent sanitation
launch, Sanitation Education
Everywhere, by Walcourt Green, a
non-governmental organization
which aims at promoting sanitation,
at the International Press
Centre, Patrick Buamah, the
Deputy Minister for Sanitation
and Water Resources, said, “Most
recent data indicates that only
15% of Ghanaians have access to
improved sanitation whilst about
19% defaecate in the open”, a situation
which is not encouraging.
He gave the assurance that, “In
as much as we feel so bad about
our poor sanitation situation, we
hope in the new commitments
that we have made in the Global
Development Agenda -- the Sustainable
Development Goal 6 --
of ensuring access to improved
sanitation and hygiene for all by
2030.”
For some decades now, at
Labadi in the LA Dadekotopon
Constituency, there have not been
rubbish-collecting centres at vantage
points, where the residents
dump their solid wastes. Until the
waste collectors who do house-tohouse
with sacks and sometimes
carts to collect the waste come
around, refuse would be heaped
in plastic bags and containers in
various corners in the households,
attracting flies and other insects to
feed on. When this persists, diseases
related to poor sanitation
such as malaria, diarrhoea, intestinal
worms and cholera are reported
at the local hospital.
Solid wastes are seen in every
• A poor
sanitaation area
nook and cranny of this part of
the city. The Labadi beach is an
eyesore as the first scene to welcome
you there is cluster of solid
wastes, wastes which were not
generated by nature but by the the
residents of the town.
As a result of dumping of
solid wastes in drains and intentional
littering around, the wastes
found their way into the sea,
which all drains are linked to, thus
making the place very unhealthy
to patronize.
The residents admitted that indiscriminate
dumping of waste
has to do with bad habit this must
change. They said, “We need to
change our attitudes towards sanitation
in Labadi and its environs.
Some people in the community
openly defaecate in the drains and
the sea in the evenings. Dumping
of refuse and other solid waste
materials in the drains during
rainy periods must be stopped.”
They also
opined that,
“Since there is
no provision of
dustbins by the
District Assembly
and a place
where we can go
and dump solid
wastes, residents
have no choice
but to throw
them in the sea.”
However, Mr.
John Alexis Pwamang,
Acting
Executive Director
of the Environmental
Protection
Agency, has expressed
concern
that, “Majority
of the populace believe that waste
management is a sole responsibility
of the government. It is, however,
stated in Article 41(k) of the
1992 Constitution of Ghana that
it is the duty of every citizen to
protect and safeguard the environment.”
The writer is a level 300 student
of the Ghana Institute of
Journalism