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General News on Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Source: citinewsroom.com
2019-02-12
Residents want the business to be relocated
The people of Akweteyman, in the northern municipality of Akaikoi, in the Greater Accra region, fear for their health because of persistent releases of industrial waste into the atmosphere by the production company of sweets, Royal Sweets Limited.
Some residents are committed to using every possible means to close the business or relocate it.
"We can not wait for an outbreak in this neighborhood … we are acting now," an angry resident told Citi News.
The residents also accused the Okaikoi-North Municipal Assembly of not worrying about their fate for almost a decade.
As the days go by, the people of Ghana are constantly growing. with an annual population growth rate of 2.5% and housing in urban areas has become just as important as education for the next generation.
But the quest for decent and safer residential neighborhoods and the need for space for industrial production have created tensions that have been brewing in Akweteyman for almost 10 years. And the residents can not stand it anymore.
It all began about two decades ago, when a candy production company, Royal Sweets, set up its factory in Akweteyman.
Then the population was not as mbadive as today. The company's production load was not as important as today.
Barima told Citi News that he had suffered enough and was considering selling his house and moving out.
"They work day and night, especially during the holidays. When you sleep at night, you feel a sudden change in the breeze. The smoke fills the room directly. Myself, my wife and child have suffered heart problems. I'm just recovering. I decided to sell my house and move. We simply inhale death, "he lamented.
Eric Akwetey's great-grandparents were the first settlers of Akweteyman.
He now operates a pub and restaurant almost on his knees because his customers can not stand the fumes they must breathe from Royal Sweets.
Eric leads the residents here for the authorities to intervene since 2009.
He says he and his fellow citizens are frustrated and forced to help themselves.
"This has badly affected me to the extent that the place is empty. This morning, not a single person came for breakfast, because this morning's broadcasts were huge, and when that happens, customers can not sit and be entertained, "she said. Eric is complaining.
The authorities of the Northern Okaikoi Municipal Assembly were not available for an interview at this time.
Royal Sweets officials also angrily rejected Citi News' attempts to obtain a response to the resident's complaints.
Concerns about the quality of the air
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that deaths related to air pollution are expected to increase in Ghana as the urban population and the number of vehicles increase.
Statistics from the WHO reveal that air pollution kills 28,000 people in Ghana each year.
The British High Commissioner in Ghana, Iain Walker, was right to complain about the air quality in Accra.
He described as disgusting and shameful the way some unknown people indiscriminately burned car tires polluting the air around his home.
Residents stir on pollution
The residents of East La in the municipality of La Dadekotopon have threatened to take legal action against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the La Municipal Assembly. Dadekotopon (LADMA) because of the activities of the plastic manufacturing company EDISAW Company Limited.
Residents complained that EDISAW's operations posed a serious health risk.
EPA was right to close the business because of the pollution, but it resumed operations.
Residents of Kuntunse in Accra have also threatened to go to court to try to stop the illegal activities of a tomato plant in the region.
The EPA organized a meeting between the factory management, which ordered it to transfer its activities to an industrial zone.
Another company, Shinefeel Ghana Company Limited in Asutsuare, was forced to shut down its plastic processing unit after public complaints.
An EPA team concluded that the plant's plastic unit did not meet agency standards.
This was after the closure of the Osudoku plant due to harmful emissions from the plant.
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