the Ghana Water Company has threatened to shut down its operation if the pollution of the catchment area of the Owabi Dam by the Waste Management Department of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) continues.
The Waste Management Department of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has been dumping refuse at the catchment area of the dam.
According to a Communication Officer of the Ghana Water Company, Mr Haruna Asogli, “the deliberate dumping of refuse at the catchment area of the Owabi Dam since October last year was not only heavily polluting, but was also making the cost of treating the water for the metropolis extremely high.
He said to enhance the supply of quality water to residents in Kumasi, the company was forced to increase the chemicals used in treating the polluted water at a cost “but if this continues in future, we would be forced to stop operations.
“We fear that the level of pollution will eventually rise if the pollution continues, and that would also mean using more chemicals to treat the water . Such a situation will eventually poison the dam and when this happens, we would be forced to shut down and stop production, so it is time the KMA stopped dumping refuse into the catchment area of the Owabi Dam to enhance quality supply of water to our customers in the Kumasi metropolis and its environs”.
Mr Asogli was reacting to the questions from newsmen on the effects of dumping refuse at the catchment area of the Owabi dam.
He said apart from polluting the dam, the dumping site was also creating health hazards for residents at Ohwim and Amanfrom.
“The stench from the dumping site is unbearable, especially anytime it rains and apart from that it breeds a lot of mosquitoes and attracts houseflies that invade the households in the surrounding communities”.
In November last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) threatened to sue the KMA if the assembly continued to dump refuse at the catchment area of the Owabi and Barekese dams but the threat is yet to be carried out.
When newsmen visited two of the dumping sites last Monday, at Amanfrom and Ohwim, dozens of trucks from Zoomlion were busily dumping refuse from the Kumasi Metropolis into the catchment area without any approval by the Environmental Protection Agency EPA.
According to officials of Zoomlion who spoke to newsmen, it was the KMA that approved the dumping of refuse at the site but when Mr Tony Mensah, the Director of the Waste Management Department of the KMA, was contacted he denied ever giving any approval to Zoomlion to dump refuse at the catchment area of the Owabi dam.
He, however, affirmed that he was aware of a proposal written by Zoomlion seeking approval from the EPA to dump refuse at the site, and gave the assurance that he would contact the waste disposal company to immediately stop its operations.
Mr Mensah said he was also aware of the health hazards their operations were creating for the residents of Ohwim and Amanfrom, and also gave the assurance that the the KMA would cover the site as early as possible.
He said the KMA had already contracted Mesk World to cover the site to reduce the stench and the mosquitoes that were attacking residents in the affected communities.
When it was detected in November last year that the KMA was dumping refuse at Ohwim and Amanfrom as well as other communities which are all in the catchment area of the Owabi Dam, and Mr Tony Mensah was contacted by newsmen, he did not only accept responsibility, but also gave the assurance that the KMA would cover up the area.
Explaining why the KMA diverted its operations to the Owabi Dam catchment area to dump refuse collected from the Kumasi Metropolis and its environs, he said, “ We were in a desperate situation to dispose of the refuse to create a clean environment in Kumasi, and since the landfill site at Dompoase is not in good condition to receive waste, we directed our attention to Ohwim to meet the demands of a certain group of people, ”he told newsmen.
Explaining, he said, last year, “there was a crises with regards to the disposal of refuse in Kumasi, especially during the CAN 2008 tournament, during which period there was also the ‘Citywide Solid Waste Collection Scheme’.
He said “with residents refusing to pay for the disposal of refuse and the assembly facing serious financial difficulties to pay some of their contractors, coupled with the landfill site at Dompoase where heaps of solid waste had piled up with more still being dumped there, it became urgent to look out for another dumping site to take the excess solid waste.”
Explaining further, he said, it was at that point that they received offers from a section of the residents at Ohwim and Amanfrom to fill portions of their valley, so we quickly jumped at the offer, which had now created problems.
Mr Mensah gave the assurance that the KMA would comply with the directive of the EPA “to cover the solid waste dumped there. We will start early this week, and also stop dumping any waste at the catchment area”.
However, almost eight months after Mr Tony Mensah’s assurances, the KMA has refused to cover the dump and stop dumping at the site and the threat by the EPA to sue the assembly for neglecting its social responsibilities is yet to materialise.
According to the EPA, some of the materials that had been dumped at the catchment area contained some poisonous chemicals, which would be very difficult to treat if the dam is polluted.
Both the Owabi and Barekese dams are the main sources of potable water for residents within the Kumasi Metropolis and its environs.
The Ashanti Regional Director of the EPA, Mrs Philomina Boakye Appiah, who gave the order also directed the KMA to stop dumping any solid waste within the catchment area of the dam, and threatened that it would institute legal action against the assembly if it flouted the EPA order.
Mrs Boakye Appiah told the Daily Graphic that apart from the danger of polluting the Barekese dam, it also increased the cost of treating water at the expense of the health of
residents of Ohwim and Amanfrom.
“ The stench that fills their homes, coupled with the insects they attract and implications on their health, informed the decision to stop the KMA from dumping refuse at the place and completely seal off what they have dumped to avoid any menace, ” she stressed.
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