By Helena Selby
Environmental decency has been a major problem for many Ghanaians. The decency expected from people in terms of cleanliness on the environment has being a battle yet not conquered. In as much people are aware of the consequences in staying in a rubbish littered environment, the more they take the consequences for granted. It is a basic knowledge that a clean environment protect the health of the individual and a dirty environment the vice versa. The basic education that government through the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and Non Governmental Organization (NGO) gives to the public seems to be going down the drain. These bodies have gone along way of ensuring that waste companies are established to control the rate at which the environment is being littered with rubbish deliberately. However the government and NGO’s can choose to do their best but it is up to the people to purpose in their heart to change.
Rubbish/waste and people in Ghana
Ghanaians and waste management is just like water and oil, both just cannot comprehend each other. Majority of people care less about their surroundings more or less their health. It is very common see a house just beside a dumping ground, a Kumasi Ventilated Improved Pit (KVIP) or very large stagnant water which breeds mosquitoes. It is very pitiful that these people do not care much about that to the extent that, they cook, eat and sometimes their kids stand beside the dumping ground to take their bath. According to one Madam Afi Addo a trader who lives in Afienya a suburb of Accra when they first came to the neighbourhood, the dumping ground there was said to be a land for the government and that anyone caught dumping rubbish there was fine a huge amount of money. Owing to this she and her family had no choice than to create a dumping ground of their own since the one they were allowed to use was very far from them. As time went on, they had no choice than to allow members of the neighbourhood to dump their waste there since they were all going through the same plight. According to her, they have to face the sound of the music since they live really close to the dumping ground, they have tried their best to stop people from dumping rubbish there but all their effo
rt have proven futile as some have even started throwing faeces there.
Sometimes people will wait for the rain to fall heavily so that they dump their rubbish into a gutter with the notion that, the heaviness of the rain will carry them to away. Little do they know that rain will carry the rubbish and heap it somewhere of inconvenience which might to generate its associated diseases. For some they prefer to defi=ecate into plastic bags and just throw it in the air at night regarless of where it will fall.
Waste management in Ghana
Gone were the days when waste management companies were very rare in the country, so metropolitan and municipal assemblies had no choice than provide a place for communities to dump the waste and rubbish. People had no choice than to walk a long distance to dump their waste; however the existences of numerous waste companies like the Benco Waste Management and Zoomlion have reduced the plight of the people. People now have the opportunity to wait for the waste truck to come to their various homes to carry their waste just like it is done in the western world. The truck goes round twice every week to carry the waste of the people, all that is expected from them is to pay some amount of money every month. According to one Naa Adjeley donkor a trader, they were very happy when the idea of the waste truck coming to carrying the rubbish came long, however the idea of they collecting money from them is kind of strange since they used to collect them for free. For her is very unfortunate that they have changed their minds in collecting money since often they are not able to pay when they go round. She said due to that, the waste truck stopped coming to the neighbourhood for waste until some of them reasoned up to start paying. According to her during those times of non payment and even till date people sneak during the middle of the night and throw his or her waste in the nearest gutter.
The situation seem a bit disturbing, why will people decide to dump waste beside their homes, gutters and in the middle of their neighbourhood knowing very well that a waste truck will come get it. Could it be that they do it with intent, do not get the meaning and importance clean environment or do not have money to pay the waste collectors but rather prefer to heap it and after burn it polluting the environment. It is mind-boggling to see people care about money to the extreme that they least for get about their health. Sometimes they tend to forget that the money they pay to the waste collector is far lesser than those they spend on their health as a result of unhygienic environment.
Rubbish dumping, sanitation and health
When rubbish is heaped for long it turns to become the breeding ground for rats, flies and mosquitoes. Mosquitoes bring about the spread of malaria which so far has being reported to have being killing millions of people on the African continent. Malaria has gone a long way in creating maternal mortality among pregnant women as well a lot of children at their tender age. Indiscriminate dumping of rubbish makes way for the rain to carry them into river bodies which might be used for domestic or industrial purpose. In this case when the water is being used without boiling or distilling it, it makes way for cholera. According to Wikipedia website, cholera transmission to humans occurs through eating food or drinking water contaminated with cholera vibrios. The major reservoir for cholera was long assumed to be humans themselves, but considerable evidence exists that aquatic environment can serve as reservoirs of the bacteria.
Sanitation is vital for health. A community with a bad sense of sanitation has a high possibility of its people being always sick. For to Integrated Social Development Centre ISODEC, poor sanitation can as well cause diarrhea. According to them it kills 5,000 infants and children. Access to hygienic toilets can reduce child diarrhoeal death by more than 30%, and hand washing can reduce them by more than 40%. Intestinal worms, which are transmitted when people ingest faecal matter or step in it barefooted, divert around one-third of the food a child consumes. Water is an essential component for human beings and all forms of life on earth; water has always been part of the global commons by default, hence the inalienable rights of individuals to the accessibility of water.
Conclusion
People ought to take care of their own health and not rely on government. It is the responsibility of the society to support the government and NGO’s in their quest to bring about a better health care through proper disposal of rubbish. The nation’s development does not depend entirely on technology and modernity but mostly on the people and their health.
Environmental decency has been a major problem for many Ghanaians. The decency expected from people in terms of cleanliness on the environment has being a battle yet not conquered. In as much people are aware of the consequences in staying in a rubbish littered environment, the more they take the consequences for granted. It is a basic knowledge that a clean environment protect the health of the individual and a dirty environment the vice versa. The basic education that government through the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and Non Governmental Organization (NGO) gives to the public seems to be going down the drain. These bodies have gone along way of ensuring that waste companies are established to control the rate at which the environment is being littered with rubbish deliberately. However the government and NGO’s can choose to do their best but it is up to the people to purpose in their heart to change.
Rubbish/waste and people in Ghana
Ghanaians and waste management is just like water and oil, both just cannot comprehend each other. Majority of people care less about their surroundings more or less their health. It is very common see a house just beside a dumping ground, a Kumasi Ventilated Improved Pit (KVIP) or very large stagnant water which breeds mosquitoes. It is very pitiful that these people do not care much about that to the extent that, they cook, eat and sometimes their kids stand beside the dumping ground to take their bath. According to one Madam Afi Addo a trader who lives in Afienya a suburb of Accra when they first came to the neighbourhood, the dumping ground there was said to be a land for the government and that anyone caught dumping rubbish there was fine a huge amount of money. Owing to this she and her family had no choice than to create a dumping ground of their own since the one they were allowed to use was very far from them. As time went on, they had no choice than to allow members of the neighbourhood to dump their waste there since they were all going through the same plight. According to her, they have to face the sound of the music since they live really close to the dumping ground, they have tried their best to stop people from dumping rubbish there but all their effo
rt have proven futile as some have even started throwing faeces there.Sometimes people will wait for the rain to fall heavily so that they dump their rubbish into a gutter with the notion that, the heaviness of the rain will carry them to away. Little do they know that rain will carry the rubbish and heap it somewhere of inconvenience which might to generate its associated diseases. For some they prefer to defi=ecate into plastic bags and just throw it in the air at night regarless of where it will fall.
Waste management in Ghana
Gone were the days when waste management companies were very rare in the country, so metropolitan and municipal assemblies had no choice than provide a place for communities to dump the waste and rubbish. People had no choice than to walk a long distance to dump their waste; however the existences of numerous waste companies like the Benco Waste Management and Zoomlion have reduced the plight of the people. People now have the opportunity to wait for the waste truck to come to their various homes to carry their waste just like it is done in the western world. The truck goes round twice every week to carry the waste of the people, all that is expected from them is to pay some amount of money every month. According to one Naa Adjeley donkor a trader, they were very happy when the idea of the waste truck coming to carrying the rubbish came long, however the idea of they collecting money from them is kind of strange since they used to collect them for free. For her is very unfortunate that they have changed their minds in collecting money since often they are not able to pay when they go round. She said due to that, the waste truck stopped coming to the neighbourhood for waste until some of them reasoned up to start paying. According to her during those times of non payment and even till date people sneak during the middle of the night and throw his or her waste in the nearest gutter.
The situation seem a bit disturbing, why will people decide to dump waste beside their homes, gutters and in the middle of their neighbourhood knowing very well that a waste truck will come get it. Could it be that they do it with intent, do not get the meaning and importance clean environment or do not have money to pay the waste collectors but rather prefer to heap it and after burn it polluting the environment. It is mind-boggling to see people care about money to the extreme that they least for get about their health. Sometimes they tend to forget that the money they pay to the waste collector is far lesser than those they spend on their health as a result of unhygienic environment.
Rubbish dumping, sanitation and health
When rubbish is heaped for long it turns to become the breeding ground for rats, flies and mosquitoes. Mosquitoes bring about the spread of malaria which so far has being reported to have being killing millions of people on the African continent. Malaria has gone a long way in creating maternal mortality among pregnant women as well a lot of children at their tender age. Indiscriminate dumping of rubbish makes way for the rain to carry them into river bodies which might be used for domestic or industrial purpose. In this case when the water is being used without boiling or distilling it, it makes way for cholera. According to Wikipedia website, cholera transmission to humans occurs through eating food or drinking water contaminated with cholera vibrios. The major reservoir for cholera was long assumed to be humans themselves, but considerable evidence exists that aquatic environment can serve as reservoirs of the bacteria.
Sanitation is vital for health. A community with a bad sense of sanitation has a high possibility of its people being always sick. For to Integrated Social Development Centre ISODEC, poor sanitation can as well cause diarrhea. According to them it kills 5,000 infants and children. Access to hygienic toilets can reduce child diarrhoeal death by more than 30%, and hand washing can reduce them by more than 40%. Intestinal worms, which are transmitted when people ingest faecal matter or step in it barefooted, divert around one-third of the food a child consumes. Water is an essential component for human beings and all forms of life on earth; water has always been part of the global commons by default, hence the inalienable rights of individuals to the accessibility of water.
Conclusion
People ought to take care of their own health and not rely on government. It is the responsibility of the society to support the government and NGO’s in their quest to bring about a better health care through proper disposal of rubbish. The nation’s development does not depend entirely on technology and modernity but mostly on the people and their health.
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