Sorting waste for recycling is an excellent means to combat pollution; Ghana desperately needs that route.
INTRODUCTION
I have often criticized Western media for its bias in the negative projection of Africa, namely, the images of filth, war and looted villages and starved children, to mention four, and often wished that there would be an equally fair projection of positive issues in Africa. However, my sense of objectivity makes me accept the reality, at least in the case of Ghana, which reality is that we are engulfed by filth, both liquid and solid. Various attempts have been made by Governments and concerned groups to address this issue with little success, mainly because these efforts have not addressed the root causes of the problem or have been half-hearted; subsequently, such efforts have failed to tackle the issue to sustaining levels (Goal 7). Also some of those efforts have tackled waste management on local levels--city/regional—only (Bentil, 2010, p. 18); however, there is urgent need for a holistic approach to waste management in Ghana. Currently, the Zoomlion agency has almost become synonymous with waste management in the country, although it mostly cleans public spaces (Asare, 2009). Yet the challenges of waste management go far beyond cleaning public spaces. The old adage, “charity begins at home”, is simply not applicable to most domestic spaces in the country.
Pic 1 Engulfed by filth
The 2008 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report pinpoints the root cause of nations’ inability to manage waste: “In urban areas, improvements in sanitation have failed to keep pace with population growth” (Goal 7). In Ghana, waste management generally implies sweeping filth off gutters and streets and dumping them elsewhere and/or “effluent discharges into water bodies” (Ghana Water Policy, 2005, p. 51; Marfo, 2010, p. 28). Indeed, the problem of waste management in this country reflects the national tendency to compartmentalize issues (Ghana Water Policy, 2005), opting for short-term solutions. That sanitation has implications for the environment underscores its importance; that importance was acknowledged globally by making it one of the conditions for the attainment of Millennium Development Goal 7. It is appropriate that the world focuses on sanitation, for according to the Report, “[a]lmost a quarter of the developing world’s population live without any form of sanitation”. It continues: “An additional 15 per cent use sanitation facilities that do not ensure hygienic separation of human waste from human contact” (Goal 7). Ghana’s poor sanitation situation places it in the centre of the picture depicted immediately above.
The disastrous implications for unhygienic living conditions should scare communities into immediate attitudinal changes (Water, Sanitation, 2010). The MDG Report states: “Open defecation jeopardizes an entire community, not just those who practise it, because of an increased risk of diarrhoeal diseases, cholera, worm infestations, hepatitis and related diseases”. The human and financial losses that accrue from unhygienic lifestyles should not be countenanced by any society. Consequently, the world community has an objective: “Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation” (Goal 7). Acknowledging the daunting nature of the target, the Report urges “redoubling of efforts” from stakeholders across the globe.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Ghanaians have developed deplorable attitude to cleanliness; many simply refuse to practice clean lifestyles. Both literates and illiterates are guilty of creating and living in dirty surroundings. Even the basic acts of sweeping, dusting and scrubbing their own homes have become chores so much that many simply neglect such healthy activities (Amankwah, 2010). An equally abysmal situation pertains in public spaces. Metropolitan and District Assemblies are overwhelmed by waste—domestic as well as industrial; despite some attempts at managing waste, cities and towns are engulfed by filth (Twin-City overwhelmed by filth, 2010). Throughout the country, gutters have become dumping sites for faeces and solid waste; they have thus degenerated from drains to health hazards in various communities. But the problem goes far beyond abused drains.
Pic 2: Abused drains
Home owners fail to provide places of convenience and proper drainage systems, creating opportunity for free range defecation, indiscriminate disposal of liquid waste which pollute the air and create stagnant waters (Amankwah, 2010); such situations compromise people’s health. The offending owners design every available space within their buildings as living rooms, to the exclusion of washrooms and other living conveniences, forcing tenants to use public places or surrounding lands as places of convenience. Currently, “six million [Ghanaians] practice open defecation because they have no access toilet facilities” (Six Million Ghanaians, p.18, 2010). The offenders, representing “twenty percent” of the Ghanaian population, apparently do not know the “health implications” of their actions. The offending home owners neither bother to create outlets for liquid waste. Water usually collects at the back of the house or runs under neighbours’ walls, defacing property, polluting the environment and again, compromising residents’ health. The danger is that an appreciable number of Ghanaians continue to replicate such unhealthy building patterns.
Many Ghanaians have become so insensitive to filth that not only do they wallow in it, but they gladly add to it. People--young and old, lettered and unlettered, male and females—litter streets rather than leave rubbish in garbage bins. Granted, metropolitan and district assemblies fail to provide adequate bins for public places in the country. However, sometimes where they are present, irresponsible citizens would litter the roads rather than walk to garbage bins. Where there are no bins, rather than behave conscientiously, keep the waste till they get home or to a bin, they leave it by the wayside. Our cleaning efforts are similarly problematic.
Metropolitan and District Assemblies are responsible for the general cleanliness of public spaces in the country. Among other functions, they employ people for physical cleaning; they also secure equipment for transportation of garbage from homes and public places to designated dumping sites, usually far from residential areas. That mandate includes proper maintenance of dumping sites to ensure environmental sustainability (Jovanovski, 2010). Also included in the Assemblies’ duties is enforcing sanitary rules in domestic domains and public spaces. In the past, Sanitary Inspectors would go round people’s homes to inspect that basic tasks such as sweeping of homes and cleaning of bathrooms, tap areas and animal shelters were properly done to avoid unhygienic conditions that could lead to diseases and death. Similar monitoring was done in commercial areas. Those known duties of the Assemblies have not changed with time. In fact, rapid population growth, rural urban migration, technological advancement and other global trends all have added implications for generated waste, thus adding to the challenges of the mandate of Assemblies as cleaning agents, calling for innovations in waste management (Darko, 2010).
In the olden days, Councils were able to handle generated waste ably, using various methods. Labourers would sweep and carry the rubbish away to temporary collection points for onward transportation to final dumping sites . The collection points had Supervisors who ensured that rubbish was dumped at a particular site to avoid littering. Offenders—young and old—were penalized to serve as motivation for cleanliness and obedience to the law. In those days, both liquid and solid wastes were managed so as not to be problematic to the ruler or the ruled; that situation has changed. While it is true that citizens do not dispose of waste responsibly, Governments’ efforts at managing waste have simply been pathetic (Ghana Water Policy, 2005; Goal 7, 2008). One of the most offensive sights to every clean-conscious Ghanaian is filth swept from drains left at the curb of gutters only for the wind and rains to send them back to choke the gutters. This happens even if such noble cleaners have been commended by the media for their services to community.
Pic. 3. Garbage swept from a drain left at the curb
In 1965, the agency responsible for water in the country was called Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation, implying that its functions covered provision of fresh water and management of liquid waste. It was “responsible for the provision, distribution and conservation of ... urban and rural water supplies in Ghana for public, domestic and industrial purposes” (Ghana Water Policy, 2005, p. 51). The Corporation was also “responsible for the establishment, operation and control of sewerage systems and given powers to control effluent discharges into water bodies” (p. 51). That the nation was once capable of considering issues holistically is evident from the mandate given the Corporation which encompassed provision of water, waste management as well as “set standards including those for drinking water and set tariffs and charges for its services” (p. 51). One gets the impression that providing standard water, maintenance and managing liquid waste were meant to be considered simultaneously.
Even though the country has never had an actual sewerage system, at least, drain construction and general infrastructural layout was planned and implemented such that liquid waste flowed away from homes rather than stagnate around them. Even then, far-sighted ones knew that the country would benefit from a proper sewerage system. Currently, with population increase, demand on land, industrialization, health and environmental trends, it is evident that the best way to manage liquid waste is to establish a sewerage system which could be utilized for recycling water. Ironically, however, three decades after its birth, the term sewerage disappeared from the label of the water agency; it became Ghana water Company Limited (p. 52). Providing potable water has become the major focus, leaving the end result to chance or to the sea (Brocke, May 18, 2010; Marfo, 2010; Jovanovski, 2010, Ghana Water Policy, 2005; Rotary, 2010), though every time one uses water, one generates waste, directly or indirectly. Consequently, efforts to manage liquid waste are not as rigorous as those in providing water. It is not surprising that the country is besieged by stagnant waters and diseases. Yet those are not the only threats.
One clear indication that the country has lost its grip on waste management is the number of garbage hills/mountains that abound in communities; stagnant waters and choked drains add a depressing dimension to the problem. Town and city housing development has extended residential communities across the country (Goal 7). It would appear that towns and cities have caught up with the dumping sites; it could also be assumed that land is becoming scarce. The reality, however, is that the sites are multiplying up because Assemblies have not paced waste management efforts with that of development (Goal 7). Waste is simply dumped rather than reused or recycled (European Communities, 2008). So the sites get filled and new ones are sited. Lawless citizens also start dumping sites indiscriminately, either because they refuse to walk to the actual site or they are frustrated due to poor collection schedules followed by the cleaning agencies. These are but two indications that waste management has become hugely problematic in the country yet other pressing reasons exist.
Pic. 4. Overwhelmed by filth
Pic. 5. Residents dump waste indiscriminately The major reason for the speedy emergence of garbage heaps is that the waste is not utilized in any way. So much of our waste could be recycled into other products in order to avoid wasting resources but that is not done. An enormous amount of paper is used daily by both formal and informal sectors, which paper is largely not recycled except in a few cases. Used polythene bags have become an environmental menace in the country. Though some industries attempt to recycle, it is evident from the litter of polythene bags that proponents are losing the battle. Much of our solid waste consists of biodegradable material which could be recycled as gas or as compost to feed the soil (Awuah, 2010). Also an appreciable quantity of industrial waste could be recycled as other commodities. There has to be a way of recycling polythene . Yet waste management constitutes a very small portion of the existing Water Policy. Regarding services provided by the main water agency in the country, “sanitation is limited to hygiene education and disposal of faecal matter as they affect water usage” (Ghana Water Policy, p. 66). The major challenge then is to prevent “pollution of water sources through indiscriminate discharges of wastes (solid/liquid) ...” (p. 32). If recycling were taken seriously, water and environmental pollution could be controlled to a very appreciable degree, and residents would enjoy better health (Recycling, 2010).
Pic 6. The polythene menace
pic 7: Or may be the plastic menace
Considering the enormity of the waste situation in the country, one would expect the government and all stakeholders to brainstorm in pursuit of radical approaches that would effectively address the overwhelming challenge in the country. One would expect a national policy on waste management which would serve as a general guide to central and local government and to private organization/investors as well. Such a policy would ensure the “protection of human health and the environment against harmful effects caused by the collection, transport, treatment, storage and tipping of waste” (European Communities, 2008). However, the nation has a water policy, drawn in 2005, which deals extensively with the provision of potable water for Ghanaians but hardly provides adequate guidelines for liquid—or solid--waste management. Even worse, the current “government is considering new legislation that will encourage an efficient recycling ... of water” (Recycling, 2010). Additionally, the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing “would soon come out with a policy on harvesting rainwater”. The overall objective is to incorporate and enforce the [legislation] in new building designs”. These are but a few sterling testimonies of the nation’s short-sightedness.
That the water policy did not simultaneously encompass mechanisms for liquid and solid waste management such as domestic and public sewage systems—recycling--implies poor initiative since the waste situation in the country has been worsening for over two decades now. A holistic policy for water and waste management would have signalled the nation’s readiness for realistic and sustainable solutions; then resources expended would have been better utilized. Yet we have apparently not learnt our lessons from the past; In spite of numerous acknowledgement of the appalling waste situation in the country from public and private stakeholders (Brocke, 2010, My 21; Twin-City Overwhelmed, 2010), policy-makers continue to compartmentalize the issue. Rather than seek a cost-effective approach towards general waste management, the government plans to tackle water recycling for now, implying that the urgency revolves around liquid waste only. Of course, resources would have to be mobilized separately for solid waste, at some point.
In the absence of a national policy, therefore, waste management is tackled from several angles. Local governments or private organizations adopt their own approach to waste management; various metropolitan assemblies seek external help to deal with the waste (Bentil, 2010; Brocke, 2010). Concerned groups and individuals offer their help from time to time (Brocke, 2010). That there is a general sensitivity to the waste challenges confronting Ghanaians is also evident from the regular clean-up exercises organized by assemblies and community-based organizations to rid villages, towns and cities of filth, and also from the public appreciation earned by the Zoomlion’s group which appears to have taken on cleaning streets as a regular work schedule, thereby creating employment across the country. Currently, there is a public sensitization exercise through which citizens are reminded not to litter spaces. Such efforts, though commendable, tend to be short-lived because they are not structured on a laid-down policy.
A critical analysis of the situation points to a certain direction: a holistic approach commencing with a vigorous national sensitization programme, followed by a national policy on waste management, which policy would encompass regular intensive short and long term public education—formal and informal—as well as seek and localize radical management strategies for solid and liquid wastes. Such a policy should utilize existing engineering programmes to develop effective infrastructural and recycling systems to control waste. It should foster collaboration among (inter)national agencies to plan and implement sustainable recycling policies from domestic to industrial levels in order to protect the environment, promote preventive health practices to improve quality of life for the ordinary Ghanaian, create employment, reduce poverty and above all, help residents live in clean surroundings. Finally, such a policy should prescribe and enforce penalties for irresponsible residents who flout cleaning regulations; strict enforcement of rules would serve the surest motivation for citizens to adhere to sanitation regulations.
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT
The two main objectives of this project are to lobby for a comprehensive, holistic and an operable National Waste Management Policy to complement the existing Ghana National Water Policy and advocate its sustainable implementation. The primary target is to expose to policy makers the disservices of short-cut, temporary but ineffective means of addressing waste management and advocate the prudence in investing in sustainable yet achievable ones that can be implemented gradually to harness the efforts of Ghanaians of all the educational, economic, socio-cultural and religious backgrounds. It would also lobby international partners of Ghana to set conditions that would compel government to initiate and implement relevant regional and national issues that directly or indirectly address the policy on waste management. Above all, the project aims at establishing structures that would help to tackle waste management, starting from domestic levels and gradually extend such structures to the commercial and industrial domains. It all commences with intensive public education.
SHORT-TERM OBJECTIVES
Short-Term Objectives
• Start a blog to disseminate information and invite collaborators to the project.
• Organize A ten-week radio programme through which to mobilize researchers, innovative individuals, concerned groups and individuals to brainstorm towards most effective means to embark on waste management in the country.
• Use material from the programme to draft a proposal for public policy on waste management.
• Lobby assemblies and concerned groups for more garbage bins at vantage points in cities and towns to help check littering (also to aid sorting at various locations).
• Sensitize Ghanaians to cleanliness through T.V programmes/cartoons pamphlets, brochures and other appropriate media.
• Pick 4 model villages, study waste patterns and start a system of sorting garbage to facilitate recycling.
• Mobilize (inter)national collaborators for large-scale recycling projects in the country.
LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES
• Conduct regular research to ascertain most cost-effective avenues to sustain waste management practices in the country.
• Educate homeowners and help them to provide necessary facilities in their homes to curb open defecation and environmental pollution.
• Mobilize pressure groups to ensure adherence to sanitation rules and regulations
• Gradually extend garbage sorting to all parts of the country.
• Initiate large-scale composting projects from biodegradable waste materials in all communities, using existing dumping sites.
• Prompt individuals to do domestic pit-composting
• Advocate organic farming and gardening through composting project.
• Mobilize resources in engineering programmes in the universities and polytechnics of the country to implement waste management findings.
• Compel agencies such as the Town and Country Planning, Lands Commission and Assemblies to live up to their mandate and ensure that estate development follows laid-down policy in order to protect the environment.
• Seek international collaborators for solid and liquid recycling projects.
• Cover open drains to prevent people from using them as dumping sites for solid waste.
• Lobby stringent penalties for Ghanaians who flout sanitation rules.
RELEVANCE OF PROJECT
This project could help reverse the trend of environmental degradation continuously compromising the health of Ghanaians, requiring limited funds to be expended on preventable diseases. It would enable clean-conscious Ghanaians to enjoy clean neighbourhood and streets. Sound waste management would also help prevent the trend of wilful destruction of water bodies in the country and help to enhance provision of potable water for the masses. Through research and utilization of technology, the project would lend sophistication into our waste management practices. The project would challenge Ghanaians into revising their stand on environmental protection; it would put the concept of attitudinal change into practise and empower willing ones to change. This project could inject a can-do-it attitude in Ghanaians, as opposed to the chronic dependency syndrome that projects an undignified image of the country. A sustainable waste management project would protect the environment, offer job security, improve bi/multi lateral relationships among environmental proponents, enforce adherence to sanitary and building rules, enhance tourism/generate income for the state and promote the general welfare of Ghanaians.
ENORMOUS CHALLENGES
i. Selling the idea to visionary--potential collaborators.
ii. Securing funding for the project.
iii. Securing the trust and co-operation of the targeted communities
iv. Locating model villages—enthusiastic and forward-looking citizens.
v. Getting collaborators for the project—local/international.
vi. Locating industries to patronise the project by accepting raw materials for recycling
vii. Starting a systematic sorting formula that would form the foundation for commercial recycling.
viii. Take-off and sustaining the project.
POTENTIAL COLLABORATORSi. Four enthusiastic/proactive communities
ii. Ministry of Works and Housing
iii. Ministry of Education, Science and Sports
iv. Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology
v. Environmental Protection Agency
vi. Forward-looking Members of parliament.
vii. Coca Cola Company.
viii. The liquor industry
ix. Millennium Development Agency
x. Plastic companies
xi. Proactive CBOs/NGOs—Action Aid, Plan Ghana
xii. Philanthropists
xiii. International collaborators
xiv. Other corporate bodies including Zoomlion
[1] Government is supposed to be the main agent for waste management in the country. The term refers to both Central and Local Government, past as well present regimes.
[2] Solid waste was incinerated.
WORKING REFERENCES
Amankwah, D. (2010, May 19). Lousy home owners: keeping up appearances Message posted to
http://learnpreventivemaintenance.blogspot.com/
Amankwah, D. (2010, May 21). Lousy tenancy and maintenance implications. Message posted to
http://learnpreventivemaintenance.blogspot.com/
Asare, E. G. (2009, February, 20). Zoomlion launches programme in Kumasi. Daily Graphic, p. 30.
Awuah, E. (2010, June 10). Ghanaian invents biogas technology. Daily Guide, p. 9.
Benti, N. L. (2010, June. 8). Zoomlion embraces new AMA waste management system. Daily Graphic, p. 18.
Brocke, H. (2010, May, 18). Govt to improve on water supply. Daily Graphic, p. 17.
Brocke, H. (2010, May, 21). Rotary, USAID to improve water, sanitation in 114 communities. Daily Graphic, p. 32.
Darko, M. A. (2010, March, 22). Clean water for a healthy world. Daily Graphic, p. 27.
Ghana National Water Policy. (2005). Government of Ghana; Ministry of Works and Housing: Accra.
Jovanovski, V. (2010, March, 18). Liquid waste disposal: The bane of AMA. Daily Graphic, p. 29.
Marfo, K. A. (2010, March, 23). Efforts to solve water problem. Daily Graphic, p. 24.
Marfo, K. A. (2010, February, 25). STMA takes steps to manage waste. Daily Graphic, p. 28
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). (2008). Retrieved April 4, 2008 from http://www.undp.org/mdg/
European Communities. (2008). Convergence with EU waste policies: Policy Guide Waste
Policy. Berlin: Ecologic--Institute for International and European Environmental Policy.
Recycling of waste water to be encouraged. (2010, June, 5). Daily Graphic, p. 19.
Six Million Ghanaians don’t have Access to Toilet. (2010, April, 30). Daily Graphic, p. 18.
The Millennium Development Goals Report. (2008). Goal 7 Ensure Environmental sustainability. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs: New York.
Twin-City overwhelmed by filth. (2010, June, 7). Daily Graphic, p. 29.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. (2010). Retrieved April 30, 2010 from
http://www.unicef.org/wash/index_schools.html
