The maintenance and delivery of clean, hygienic conditions
that help prevents disease through services such as potable water supply,
garbage collection, and safe disposal of human waste is the focal point of public
health policy.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates
that, Ghana loses in excess of over $290 million dollars annually to improper sanitation.
In addition, the Joint Monitoring Programme has it that, Ghana has slipped
further to seventh worst on its sanitation performance.
The health
consequences of sanitation are dire. The WHO statistics of 2004 for instance indicates
that eighty-eight percent of malaria, hepatitis-A, schistosomiasis and diarrhea
diseases are attributed to insanitary conditions.
Regardless of any measure towards stamping out sanitation in
Ghana, such as the institution of National Sanitation Day, it must be
understood that the issue remains a crucial need that has skipped majority of
citizens. And when it comes to areas such as Mallam Junction and its environs,
much more than health is at stake as far as sanitation is concerned.
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| FILTH AT MALLAM |
Some concerned residents at Mallam Junction expressed their
grievances about how miscreants wrongly dispose refuse at places such as
gutters, behind walls of people’s houses, on the streets, just to mention but
few. This according to them, chokes the gutters, creates poignant stench, leads
to flood and of course disease outbreak.
This goes on even after government has constructed drains a
few months ago at Mallam Junction to help curb the perennial flooding residents
were battling with.
When our news team got to the community; some distressed dwellers
tried hard to piece together their ordeal. According to Madam Comfort Azerikuma,
a petty trader, unscrupulous people have virtually turned her surrounding into
a refuse dump. She wakes up early to get rid of the filth, yet her effort goes
down the drain as others wake up earlier to stealthily throw their rubbish
close to where she sells her food. She has had to battle with the distressing
stench, flies, mosquitoes and sometimes flood. We felt so nauseating even as we
tried hard to breathe; yet we managed to speak to a few other residents.
Our news team also chanced on some pupils who were walking
through the filth to their homes. Though they were shy to speak on camera, they
managed to disclose that an unoccupied plot of land, owned by someone, has been
converted into a refuse dump by people living close by; and also there are
others who throw faeces over a wall into a completed but uninhabited house. They
pleaded that something be done about it since it breeds dangerous animals and
insects.
A shop attendant, Justice Barimah Gyamfi, also indicated
that there are vending shops near the gutters but can attest to the fact that,
the vendors are not responsible for the improper disposal of refuse. He related
that, the shop owners desilt the gutters from time to time, but the only
problem is that they do not get trucks to convey the rubbish to the dump site. Eventually,
their effort is rendered useless as the rubbish is swept back into the gutters
either by wind or rain.
In September 2018, residents of Mallam Junction were elated
at the construction of drains which sought to put an end to their perennial
flooding; but one may wonder, after that breakthrough, why have they not
surmounted the bane of sanitation?
Their plea is that the Ministry of Sanitation should come to
their rescue; and if possible put up measures to bring back ‘Town Council”
officers to deal with unscrupulous persons who litter around the community.
SOURCE: ESTHER C. KONADU YIADOM
