The war against Ghana waste was that of empty words

General News on Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-04-30

A pile of decaying and rancid garbage can be found at the entrance of Kaneshie Market, a 30-year-old three-storey structure that houses hundreds of stores. Sellers in front of garbage bins sell fruit, vegetables and other foods, and some have left wondering if these products are safe for consumption.

Daniel Dadzie of Joy FM visited the market to see the conditions. According to what he saw, the site was in a "deplorable state".

"Why do people throw their garbage here?", He asked a security officer who works at the market.

"Nobody seems to care," the guard replied. "The only smell paa. Something must be done about it. "

A revealing report from the United Nations Development Program reveals that Ghana could generate 83 billion GH ¢ of waste a year. In addition, the figures estimate that the country generates 30,000 tonnes of solid waste each year, but more than half (86%) of these could be recycled.

In Singapore, government officials have come up with a revolutionary system to ensure that the country's waste is not wasted. "Waste incineration plants" recover their waste and vaporize it in boilers, which drive turbogenerators to produce electricity.

Thanks to this system, the country has been able to successfully complete a set of housing equipped with electricity for the poor.

"[In Ghana], the focus is on sanitation, but we need to focus on waste management, "said Maame Darkoa Awinador, an badyst at Joy FM. "We must think that waste can be used to generate wealth."

According to the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), it operates in a manner that ensures effective environmental management and governance to ensure the establishment of sustainable development. a regulatory framework for sustainable development.

And at the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, officials consulted "investors to convert our waste into various value-added products such as energy, compound fertilizers, recycled plastics and paper."

Joy FM contacted the Ministry of Sanitation to get more information about their meeting with investors, but the ministry refused an interview request.

In 2011, Manbadeh Azure of JoyNews wrote an award-winning report outlining remediation and waste management issues at the Bush Canteen of the University of Ghana. Since his report, the University has renovated the market, but across the country, little has been done, he said.

"Unless we act now," Azure told Dadzie at the Super Morning Show on Tuesday, "the goal of making Accra the cleanest city in Africa, is a joke."