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Nearly all parts of the country are flooded with dirt, including plastics that litter homes, offices and institutions, while most drains are smothered by garbage. floods that destroy lives and properties.
As a result, any threat of rain now causes fear and panic among people, especially those living in the lowest communities.
The national capital, Accra, is a typical example of how inefficient waste management, including planning and undisciplined behavior of some people, causes preventable deaths and destroys properties whenever it rains, even for a short time.
Another important practice that destroys the environment is the free felling of trees and the dumping of waste on the beaches.
Although Ghana is fortunate to have a coastline, its mismanagement deprives the state of an indispensable income.
Ineffective beach care, especially in Accra, has exposed the shoreline to constant abuse by some clients, food vendors and mentally disturbed people who have turned some of these sandy beaches into Residential locations.
There is also the indiscriminate dumping of garbage, including human excrement, into the sea and cattle breeding around the beaches, with the resulting repulsive odor.
Dirt on the beaches is not just a horror; it also causes the destruction of marine life.
The country's shoreline, part of the Atlantic Ocean, has become a breeding ground for dumping tons of garbage "swallowed" by the sea, resulting in heavy pollution of the ocean and possible loss of fish.
This large-scale pollution of the coastline and the ocean has tarnished the once pristine beaches that served as public places for relaxation and solid attraction for some tourists.
Visit
When the Daily Graphic team visited some beaches in Korle Gonno, James Town, La and Teshie, she saw piles of dreadful waste, mostly plastics, that had been thrown to the ground. There were also scenes of burnt waste, open defecation and livestock rearing.
The dirty beaches seem to defy the government's desire to make Accra a city generating around 3,000 tons of garbage per day, the cleanest in Africa.
At Koron Gonno Beach, for example, there was a pile of plastic floating in the sea, the tide constantly depositing bits of debris on the beach that looked like a landfill.
Heaps of garbage, mainly plastic, including water bottles and alcoholic beverages, grocery bags, disposable cups, food containers, bags, old fishing nets torn clothes and worn shoes were strewn along the beach.
"We have to burn some of this dirt most of the time, because no one comes looking for it," said Desmond Tutu, a 29-year-old cleaner at the beach.
He added that although the beach remained a favorite resting place for most families and people, some people still relaxed in the area.
"We are constantly preventing people from open defecation on the beach, because we usually use our bare hands to clean up the dirt to keep the beach clean," he added.
There was also liquid waste, consisting of a mixture of heavy metals and hazardous chemicals from batteries, plastics and mercury that enter the ocean, poisoning marine life and triggering seaweeds blue that also affect the peach.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Director of Natural Resources, Mr. Karl Fiati, harmful pollutants could enter the food chain and be consumed by humans.
At La Pleasure Beach Resort, the situation was somewhat better except that, in some places, carcbades, tree stumps, plastic bags and bottles, old fishing nets, food containers and cutlery had been carried to the ground.
Some party goers described the area as "disgusting".
"You go to the beach to have fun and give yourself energy, but when you come here, you see what you refuse. We can not walk long without walking on plastic bags, "lamented a Swiss, Alice Leandro.
In the opinion of Papa Abakah, a 400-level student at the University of Ghana, "beach management needs to sit if we want Ghana to take advantage of its beaches" .
Reaction
Mr. Afutu Nikui, administrator of La Pleasure Beach resort, however, said that this beach was one of the best in Ghana and the sub-region, for which it attracted tourists from far and wide, all recognizing the fact that the sanitation situation was "seriously remote from some tourists".
According to him, 3,500 GHc were spent daily to transport the waste containers from the beach to landfills.
"As a resort, we are at the source of the huge waste generated in the capital and dumped in the drains of the ocean. As a result, our top priority is sanitation, not safety.
"Currently, 95% of the money we generate is spent on waste management, which has paralyzed our ability to raise funds to develop the beach to a significant level," he added.
At Teshie Beach, the situation was no different.
Presbyterian High School Teshie Presbyterian is about 100 meters from the beach. His students and teachers have endured the persistent smoke accumulated over the years.
"The garbage dump poses a serious risk to the health of our students and our teachers, especially those who are asthmatic. Often, these people choose not to go to clbad to prevent asthma attacks, "said a source at the school.
"Sometimes when we can not stand the smoke, we have to mobilize the students to go to the beach and put out the fire," he added.
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