It’s a beautifully sunny Thursday morning, especially for the goats, chickens and rats who are ravaging for a full breakfast buffet on the swelling dumpsite of rubbish behind the Abeka market, Abeka. On one side of the dump are separated plastic and metal scrap being packed into sacks to be moved to a supposed recycling site where they will be cleaned and crushed and then further sold on to a Chinese company who apparently recycle and reuse these pieces of scrap to make new plastic products.

On the other side though, is a stench so bad it’s enough to make you vomit all the food you’ve eaten in 2019 and that of your ancestors as well, the biodegradables, rotten food from the market women who in disappointment of their lack of sales have dumped the avocados and lettuce and tomatoes which would have landed on your dinner table to facilitate your healthy eating plan, but alas have landed in the rubbish bins just like your plan, juicy and boisterous maggot families have come out for air and flies are swarming like the new medical drones delivering medicines over towns and villages rife with naked women bathing.

It’s funny though because just a few days ago, we were here and there was no sign of life, just rubbish, rubbish and more rubbish spilling over and taking over half of the road.

David greeted me with a wide grin on his face peeping out of the about 6ft container which was the temporary home of the rubbish from the market women, “media people, we heard you came last week and were coming again,” he said.

He went on “We have cleared the rubbish, we are not like that. The caterpillar got spoilt on the ‘bolla’ (local name for rubbish) so they couldn’t come for the rubbish but it’s been fixed now, aba loo f33…loosely translated, all the rubbish has been collected”.

Save of course what was glaringly staring right back at me. The rubbish previously seen had made its way to its final resting place in Nsumia on the Nsawam road, a dumpsite which according to David is run by Zoomlion - the company which he works for and is responsible for disposing of rubbish in the Okaikwei area.

He had a stick which he was using to separate and also look for hidden treasures such as the groundnuts which he had found and had tucked away into the front pocket of his shirt.

They heard Joy FM was coming and rushed to do what was necessary. This story is not a new one, on countless occasions, the threat of media exposure pushes stakeholders to fix problems and move to do what they have been contracted to do.

Last week, it was Achimota, behind the Forestry Commission, this week Abeka market. We are coming to you next because it has become our duty to hold accountable the people who must keep our city clean and free from disease. Free from deaths due to flooding when gutters, drains and rivers are choked with rubbish and free from unsightly and smelly dumpsites smack bang in the middle of our communities. 

If you have any information concerning uncleared rubbish dumpsites please contact us on  0244340437.