The assembly member of Wiaboman, a suburb ofDansoman, in the Ablekuma West municipality of the Greater Accra Region, Mr Clement Agyei, has bemoaned the indiscriminate dumping of refuse at unauthorised places in the community.
Refuse, he said, are dumped on shoulders of the streets at night, into open drains and uncompleted structures in the area.
Describing it as worrisome, he said the practice was polluting the environment in the community.
Mr Agyei in an interview with the Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday said the community lacked waste bins and as a result, people dug the ground along the shores to bury their waste.
He explained that the sea usually washed back the waste into the community, causing the community to be polluted.
The assemblyman further stated that because there were no drains and gutters,the community got flooded whenever it rained with its concomitant effect.
“The stagnant water left after the flooding breeds mosquitoes which caused malaria and makes the environment really unsafe for especiallychildren,” he said.
The assembly member said there had been a lot of sensitisation on the importance of cleanliness in the community but some residents always turn deaf ears to it.
He regretted that even though there were general clean-up exercises to make the community clean, there was no place to dispose of the waste.
Mr Agyei said the contract for the construction of drains and gutters in the community has already been awarded to a construction firm that may not be able to raise enough funds.
“We are hopeful that the contractor would return to site soon as funds are released for him to complete the project.”
The assembly member, therefore, made a passionate appeal to government to support the community’s bid to make Wiaboman clean and healthy.
Bella Fosuwaa, a resident, said the dumping of refuse was getting out of control as children were now engaging in the practice.
She described the act as“the norm” which no one in the area had the courage to complain about.
Another community member Nana Owusu Junior, complained about a strong stench that occasionally emanates from the seashore; “making living in the area unbearable sometimes.”
He suggested that periodical awareness creation on the health implications of uncleanliness was necessary to salvage the situation.
“The people here need serious education to change their attitude towards cleanliness; so the authorities should as a matter of urgency, address this matter to prevent the young ones from copying the bad ways of some of the community members,”Owusu added.
BY CONNIELOVE MAWUTORNYO DZODZEGBE
