The MCE for Klottey Korle Mr. Nii Adjei Tawiah has asked for more time to dislodge heaps of filth and stench which has enmeshed Adabraka Sahara.

The MCE who leads the two-month old municipality explained it will take a long-term solution to resettle residents whose homes are cited on waterways where garbage has accumulated.

Nii Adjei Tawiah however pointed to interim measures such as desilting and sensitisation on sanitation.

Mr. Tawiah was speaking on Joy FM on the back of a recent Joy News report which recounted how filth has taken over the Sahara community located at the heart of the business city of  Adabraka, Accra.

The filth has been compounded by the aftermath of floods which has left sand coloration on the walls of residents and galleys with overgrowth of weeds. The smell of the place is offensive and unsettling.  

Sahara is reported gradually degenerating into a slum with unplanned wooden structures closely netted to one another.

The effect of this is flooding anytime it rains. 

The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) confirmed that at least three people had died and two missing as a result of recent rains.

Many places in the capital, including the newly constructed Circle Interchange and Klottey Korle Constituency, flooded.

Member of Parliament for Klottey Korle Constituency, Zanetor Rawlings has blamed the government. 

But Nii Tawaih speaking on the havoc, said the problem is hydra-headed and ancient.

A resident of the community himself, he points to illegal structures cited on waterways as a major contributor to the problem.

He added that because the community is not planned most of the drains leads to people’s homes and block access to water when it rains.

This, According to Nii Tawiah, has been compounded by the Odaw lagoon in the municipality. 

The Odaw, he says gets full even when it rains elsewhere and not Accra. Because the lagoon takes it source from outside of Accra.

Solutions

Although the municipality does not have its own budget yet some temporary measures are in place to address the problem.

Nii Tawiah made reference to the ongoing desilting of the Odaw drain.

Government has allotted 197 million cedis for the desilting of choked drains and other drainage works in the country, Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources has said.  

Addressing the press in a joint interaction between her Ministry and the Greater Accra Metropolitan Water and Sanitation Projects, Cecelia Dapaah said the contract for the works has already been awarded by the Ministry of Works and Housing, Maxwell Agbagba reported.

“We just had a meeting and they are going to desilt our gutters,” she recounted to reporters.

Citizens Reactions

Some citizens who were on the Super Morning Show Wednesday have proffered solutions to the menace of filth.  

Maame Awinador

According to her charity begins at home. Parents must inculcate the culture of cleanliness into their kids.

Again there should be sanitation education in the schools and public centers for people to understand the harmful effects of insanitary conditions.

In addition, Ghana must start recycling filth and using the output for energy production, She added.

This will encourage people to change their attitude from filth as a burden to the solution.

Dansoaa  Siaw-Misa

The problem must be addressed from the source. “We have allowed the problem to degenerate. We need to go back and identify where the problem started”.

According to her, the dredging is a short term approach. The drastic measure of resettling those on waterways should be looked at.  This should be done with the enforcement of laws governing the disposal of refuse.

Efo Dela

The problem must be addressed with rewards and sanctions.

According to him when people are rewarded for their good acts and punished for the bad ones they will comply with good sanitation behavior.

Identifying the psychology of human behavior, he says that people think of convenience and how to satisfy their present and pressing needs. But it is the authorities who must enforce appropriate behavior, he said.