Kaneshie Market refuse pile-up beyond health threat

One of our stories today talks about the danger persistent delay in collecting and disposing of refuse generated at the Kaneshie Market and its environs poses to traders, shoppers, pedestrians, travellers and residents and, of course, everyone who would have to transact business in that environment.

The story raises issues of grave concerns regarding the health of people, the survival or growth of businesses, the attitude of some Ghanaians towards sanitation, decadence in the waste management sector, the lack of space for public use for important public undertakings, and the lackadaisical attitude of our assemblies.

No doubt, a pile-up of refuse anywhere in the country other than the incinerator or the accredited dumping site is a breeding ground for environmental pollution and related diseases.

Therefore, the Kaneshie refuse must be cleared and future one collected and disposed of as soon as practicable in order not to repeat the current dangerous situation.

This is important because traders at the Kaneshie market say they are losing customers, which is a case that undermines the survival or growth of businesses there and it is without doubt that similar cases are occurring at big markets across the country.

The story confirms the poor attitude of some Ghanaians towards sanitation. Some people seem to be immune to poor or insanitary conditions and it would only take the law to make them responsible, so the quicker the assemblies apply their sanitation byelaws the better it would be for the whole country to live in a clean environment.

If it turns out to be true that some sanitation workers of Ablekuma Central Municipality Assembly(AbCMA) collected money to allow some people to dump their refuse at the Kaneshie market to compound the already sorry insanitary conditions there, then the country has a huge problem on its hands.

The Ghanaian Times knows that some people who have the opportunity to work in certain capacities in some sectors of the economy are using their positions to exploit others, while shortchanging the state but least would anyone think that sanitary workers would do such a thing.

This reminds this paper of how some tricycle riders collecting refuse from homes would dump it on roads and other unauthorised places after collecting money from households for their services.

The point raised by the Head of Waste Management at the AbCMA, Ms Shelli Sumbanyery, that the Assembly dumped refuse beside the traffic lights, the footbridge and by the roadside at Kaneshie for subsequent collection “because the Municipal Assembly does not have enough land to dump the refuse” is a serious matter to look at.

This paper would continue to urge the government to incorporate in its planning the need for space for certain public and even private undertakings; the country’s urban areas are too built up and need re-engineering.

The last but the most important issue raised is the lackadaisical attitude of the country’s assemblies. Is the Ablekuma Central Assembly saying that if it takes ‘thy kingdom come’ for the Zoomlionwaste management company to replace the assembly’s broken-down trucks, it will sit aloof while the refuse keeps piling up for the worst to happen?

It is about time the assemblies adopted creative and innovative ways in doing things because they are agents of development in the districts, municipalities and metropolitan areas of the country.

Therefore, they have to do everything possible to succeed in their enterprise because their failure will be a great disservice to the country.