The Ghana Private Road Transport (GPRTU) drivers and their passengers at Tema Station, near Ghana Health Service Human Resource Directorate, in Accra, face serious sanitation problems, which could lead to an epidemic.
The situation also exposes the squatters and the staff of the Ghana Health Service (GES) to a lot of health risks, with a heavy stench emanating from the scattered solid waste and fecal matter dumped into the gutters.
Cooked food and foodstuffs are sold near gutters and almost everywhere, thus exposing consumers to the risk of contracting food-borne diseases.
Mr Anthony Mensah, the Director of the Waste Management of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, (AMA) who led in the clearing of filth at the station, on Saturday, told the Ghana News Agency, in an interview, that he was worried that the drivers and the squatters did not show any commitment towards cleaning their environment.
He said it was about time everyone took up the responsibility of ensuring a clean environment.
He said in view of the numerous campaigns, every resident must by now be aware of the sanitation problem and how hazardous it was to their health.
Mr. Mensah, therefore, urged the GPRTU to encourage their members to attach special importance to environmental sanitation in order to reduce the outbreak of diseases.
He called for stiffer punitive measures for those who would dump refuse into the drains.
Mr. Henry Kotei Kotey, the Assemblyman for Kinkawe Electoral Area, at Osu, who took the GNA round the station, also expressed surprise about the choked drains and the indiscriminate siting of kiosks.
Miss Silvia Commodore, Miss Earth-Ghana 2015, who took part in the cleaning exercise, appealed for a comprehensive public education on the relevance of good sanitation.
She said: “My project is on Waste Management and it is to educate the youth to ensure that they do the right thing in awareness creation.”
Source: GhanaWeb
