Barely a week ago, the Ghana Water Company (GWCL) in Kumasi threatened to stop the production and supply of potable water to parts of the Kumasi Metropolis if the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) continued to flout the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) directive to stop dumping solid and liquid waste at the catchment area of the Owabi dam.
Since October last year, the KMA and Zoomlion, a waste management agency, have been dumping solid and liquid waste into valleys within the Owabi dam’s catchment area, most of which flows into the dam, especially when it rains.
This has resulted in massive pollution of one of the main sources of water supply to residents in the Kumasi Metropolis and its environs, which has become the concern of the GWCL.
The dumping of solid and liquid waste in some communities within the catchment area of the dam for almost a year now does not only threaten the production of potable water from the dam as indicated by the GWCL, but also undermines the primary health care programme of the Ghana Health Services.
This is because the stench from the dump sites all day long, coupled with its continuous breeding of mosquitoes that attack Amanfrom and Ohwim residents day and night, as well as the nuisance created by houseflies attracted to the dumping ground, are enough evidence of the health hazards the people are exposed to.
When the activities of the KMA and Zoomlion were first detected by the Daily Graphic in November last year, the need to contact the EPA became paramount.
This is because the agency is seen as an institution that holds the disciplinary rod to correct and promote good sanitation in the area
However, when the activities of the KMA were brought to the attention of the EPA, the agency failed to live up to expectation by taking the KMA and its collaborators to task when its officials failed to prevent them from continuing to dump garbage at a sensitive area as the Owabi dam’s catchment area.
Like a toothless bulldog, the EPA only barked by threatening to send the KMA to court, if the assembly refused to cover the mess it collaborated with Zoomlion to create.
According to the EPA, some of the materials that had been dumped at the area contained some poisonous chemicals, which would be very difficult to treat when the dam was polluted.
Explaining the stance of the EPA, the Ashanti Regional Director of the EPA, Mrs Philomina Boakye Appiah, told the Daily Graphic that apart from the danger of polluting the dam and thereby increasing the cost of treatment, the solid waste also posed serious health hazards to residents of Ohwim and Amanfrom.
“The stench that fills their homes, coupled with the insects they
attracted and their health implications informed us to stop the KMA from dumping refuse at the place and completely seal off what they had dumped to avoid any menace,” he said.
She stressed that ironically, for more than eight months after the EPA had issued out the threat, the agency failed to put words into action, thus confirming the perception that it was a weak institution which was unable to carry out its mandate more effectively.
The failure of the EPA to enforce its rules and regulations regarding environmental issues reinforced President Barack Obama’s advice of building strong institutions in the country to facilitate accelerated socio-economic development.
One also wonders when the KMA will be sensitive enough to appreciate the magnitude of the problems they are creating for the very people they are mandated to serve and protect.
In reality, the assembly is not only duty-bound to initiate programmes and projects that will accelerate the socio-economic development of residents in its jurisdiction, but is also to ensure a clean environment in order to promote the good health of the people.
By dumping solid and liquid waste with impunity in the Owabi dam catchment area, the KMA has displayed double standards in respect of the concept of sanitation in its area of jurisdiction.
This is because one of the by-laws of the KMA on littering at unauthorised places is emphatic that “no person shall place, deposit, throw and leave or cause to be placed, deposit, thrown down and left refuse, offensive materials, unwholesome or dangerous materials in any street, park, recreation ground or other public or open space to which the public have access, or any ditch, water course, gutter or drain”.
The by-laws signed by the then Metropolitan Co-ordinating Director in December 1995 and approved by the then Regional Co-ordinating Director states that “ nobody should convey any filth, dust, ashes, refuse or litter the streets with offensive matter or liquid, or deposit any material into streets, drains, and gutter.” The by-laws go further to state that “ if during conveyance of any filth, dust, ashes, refuse or litter, some falls on the street, pavement or ground, the person undertaking such conveyance shall cause same to be removed and clean the place on which such filth, dust, ashes or litter falls”.
The by-laws provide that “any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any of them will be guilty of an offence, and shall on conviction by a court or Community Tribunal be liable to a fine not exceeding ¢50,000.00? [GH¢5.00]? or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months”.
The above directive by the KMA proves that the assembly has the responsibility of ensuring a clean environment in the Kumasi Metropolis and its environs in order to promote good health among residents.
Knowing the sensitive nature of the Owabi dam, one is at a loss as to the role the KMA played towards the sustenance of life, when it continuously reneged on its primary responsibility of ensuring that the area was rigidly protected.
The question is what informed the decision of the KMA to cause solid and liquid waste to be dumped in the area, knowing very well that the garbage contained dangerous chemicals.
Is the KMA not aware of the health hazards it is creating for people who live in the area and will it support the treatment of polluted water from the dam?
What will the assembly do if their action creates serious pollution to the extent that the GWCL will not be able to treat the water in view of the high cost involved in the treatment of the highly polluted water, and therefore stops the production of potable water for supply to a section of residents in the Kumasi Metropolis as is being speculated by the GWCL?
These and many other questions readily come to mind whenever people who are concerned about the environment consider the actions of the KMA and Zoomlion and their ramifications.
According to the Communications Officer of the GWCL office in Kumasi, Mr Haruna Asogli, “the deliberate dumping of refuse in the catchment area of the Owabi Dam since October last year is not only creating heavy pollution, but is also making the cost of treatment extremely high”.
“To enhance the supply of quality water to residents in Kumasi, the water company is forced to increase the amount of chemicals used to treat the polluted water, but if this continues, in future, we will be forced to stop operating. This is because we cannot use more than the required chemicals even if the pollution level is extremely high”. When the company uses more than the requisite chemicals to treat the polluted water, this would eventually poison the dam, and force it to shut down and stop production,” he said.
The Director of Waste Management of the KMA, Mr Tony Mensah, said he was aware of the health hazards their operations were creating for the residents of Ohwim and Amanfrom, and as usual, gave the assurance that the KMA would cover the site as early as possible.
When one considers the negative attitude of the KMA towards the people in the Owabi catchment area, one only has to question the moral rights the assembly has in monitoring the sanitary conditions in parts of the Kumasi Metropolis.
Since the EPA had proved that it is incapable of bringing the KMA to order so far as the efficient disposal of waste is concerned, civil society has to rise up to the occasion before KMA goes berserk.
This is because if being in a desperate situation can induce a body like the KMA to collaborate with Zoomlion — a company considered in the media circles as giants in waste disposal — to dump solid waste indiscriminately, disregarding its effects on the health of the people, then they could collaborate to do worse things in future to create health hazards for residents in the Kumasi Metropolis and its environs.
No comments:
Post a Comment