By Hafsa Obeng
Accra, Sept. 18, GNA – The PPS Urbania Consult Limited, with funding from Clean Air Ghana is supporting Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies in the Greater Accra Region to develop an air quality action plan.
The support formed part of an initiative expected to enhance local capacity in planning and implementing actions for cleaner air in line with the Greater Accra Air Quality Management Plan launched in 2018.
The initiative would also include air quality assessment, goal setting, control measure identification, impact modeling, and the creation of tailored action plans for each Assembly.
Dr Joseph Ayitio, Team Leader, speaking at a workshop for the Assemblies, said there was the need to improve air quality in the capital, hence the need for an action plan to define specific interventions.
He said the initiative, being rolled out in Accra, commenced two months ago, with series of consultations with local authorities and community representatives and “comes along with several activities all the way to May 2025.”
“The result will guide the definition of key baseline emissions sources, impact modeling of proposed actions, exploration of financing options and the development of strategies for mainstreaming air quality improvements,” he said.
The Team Leader said it was expected to cover 15 Assemblies, which must produce their respective action plans that would be integrated into the medium-term development plans so that annually the defined interventions would be identified, prioritized, and implemented.
Dr Ayitio said research indicated that air quality-related deaths were among the highest in the country.
“About 28,000 deaths in the country annually are related to air-related deaths, which is far ahead of deaths related to other public health diseases. So, this provides a critical opportunity for us to do something about this,” he said.
He said to mitigate the situation, they could leverage some low hanging fruits by promoting tree cover or tree plantation, at least in residential areas and neighbourhoods.
He said trees had the power to absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen for humans and called for regular servicing of vehicles and stop open burning.
He urged Ghanaians to pay attention to their health, exercise regularly, promote activities that would minimize poor air within the environment, while advocating for improvement in air quality for better health.
Mr Kwabena Badu-Yeboah, an Environmentalist, said Ghana lost 1.6 million cedis annually due to air polluted related issues and urgent steps were needed to make the air clean for consumption.
He said the action plan would ensure baseline emission data and scenario modeling guide evidence-based policies and actions aimed at reducing air pollution across the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area.
It would also help address air pollution that posed significant health risks to residents and environmental degradation in the area.
“The action plans will also be integrated annual action plans of the Assemblies for sustainable air quality management,” he added.
Madam Florence Kuukyi, Director, Metro Public Health Department, Accra Metropolitan Assembly, said for air to be of good quality, all the four gases, carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, and argon must be in the right proportions.
She said those gases moved from their right proportions to cause air pollution either through anthropogenic activities or natural activities.
Madam Kuukyi said the initiative had come at the right time to augment the already existing works of the Assembly on air pollution, which included sensitization, education, enforcement, and sanctions.
She urged stakeholders to prioritise issues of air pollution in all aspects of life and “we must fight air pollution because it is destroying the atmosphere and killing us.”
She called for the establishment of sanitation courts in all MMDA’s to make enforcement flexible and easier.
The team later constituted an 11-member local air quality team responsible for leading the development of air quality assessments and the development of the air quality action plans in their respective Assemblies.
GNA