ATTEND TO THIS ENVIRONMENTAL NIGHTMARE (FEB 13)

A COMPOST plant built at Teshie 30 years ago to turn tonnes of organic garbage into fertiliser is said to have become an environmental nightmare for residents of that part of Accra.
This “nightmare”, perhaps, comes as no surprise, given the rather abysmal way waste management issues have been handled in the country.
It is quite worrying that while some countries are making good money from the production of compost and fertiliser from garbage, as they make an important input into agricultural production, here we are being engulfed by waste.
The potential for composting in the country is enormous if one considers the tonnes of waste produced on a daily basis and the fact that many Ghanaians are engaged in farming and need good compost to improve their produce.
There have been reports of shops in Accra selling imported compost from South Africa when, indeed, the country, from all indications, has the potential to export compost.
In many parts of the country, waste is indiscriminately dumped and the unsightly scenes that are left serve as breeding grounds for disease vectors such as mosquitoes, thereby contributing to mortality and morbidity rates.
Accra, the country’s capital, faces serious environmental challenges as a result of the poor management of waste.
Although the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and Zoomlion Ghana Limited have been aggressively engaged in organising what has been known as “massive” clean-up exercises, waste management continues to be a major development challenge.
While waste management experts have identified the “collect-and-dump” strategy as largely ineffective, there have also been concerns that bad attitudes account largely for the environmental mess resulting from poor waste disposal.
The Minister designate for the Greater Accra Region, Nii Armah Ashittey, has expressed his intention to declare war on indiscipline and chaos in the capital when given the nod by Parliament.
When he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Nii Ashittey said he might be compelled to resign if there was any attempt to interfere with his work.
Nii Armah’s zeal is commendable and it is the hope of the DAILY GRAPHIC that he will not lose this zeal when given the nod by Parliament as the Minister for the Greater Accra Region.
In the past, city authorities embarked on decongesting exercises, only to allow hawkers to take over the streets as the political heat was turned on them.
The state of indiscipline and chaos in our society is nothing to write home about and addressing the trend will require a very comprehensive approach without the fear of perceived reprisals.
Our local authorities need to bear in mind that majority of Ghanaian will relish a clean and organised society, for which reason they should not in the least fear the trumpeted reprisals by the few who seek their selfish interests.
The DAILY GRAPHIC calls on the government to take steps to save the compost plant to serve its intended purpose and safeguard the health of people in the area.