By Laudia Sawer
Tema, May 17, GNA – Mr Joshua Agudah, the Assemblyman for the Dade Agbo Electoral Area in the Tema Metropolis, has appealed to companies and individuals to help the community acquire communal refuse bins to keep the area clean.
Mr Agudah said due to the lack of such bins in the community, most people turned the seaside into a refuse dump where they disposed of their garbage, a situation he acknowledged has numerous health implications for the people.
He made the appeal in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Tema on the sidelines of a collaborative cleanup exercise organized in collaboration with the Maritime Courier Publications, and the Dzigbodzi Fish Mongers Association.
He said it was not enough to educate residents on the consequences of dumping waste at the shore and into the sea; there must be appropriate and proper alternative dumping places for the people to curb the unhealthy behaviour.
He further stated that another challenge in the Dade Agbo electoral area has to do with the poor conditions of drainage systems in the community, which were a major cause of flooding in the community during the rainy season.
Madam Doris Ahadzi, President of the Greater Accra branch of the National Fish Processors and Traders Association (NAFPTA), reiterated that proper waste disposal would go a long way to benefit the coastal dwellers, as their major source of income was the sea.
Madam Ahadzi added that keeping the shores clean and desisting from dumping into the seas would also help preserve aquatic life, which in effect would subsequently increase the country’s fish stock and catch for the fishermen.
Ms Nafisatu Adamu, a representative of Maritime Courier Publications, described the cleanup, dubbed “Give Your Environment a Smile… Clean It,” as a social responsibility initiative aimed at keeping coastal communities clean and educating people on the need to keep such areas clean.
She said it has come to their knowledge that residents of the area were dumping their refuse into the sea indiscriminately as they lacked other alternatives in terms of waste disposal.
Residents, apart from joining the groups to clean the area, also received education on the need to properly dispose of refuse and to stop open defecation in the community due to the harm it causes aquatic life.
GNA