By Mercy Arthur
Tema. Aug. 22, GNA – Residents of Tema Community Two Halcrow Electoral Area in the Tema West Municipality have expressed concern over the deplorable drainage system that posed a health risk to them.
The residents lamented that the blockage of the drainage system had left the water stagnant, breeding mosquitoes, leading to malaria and other health implications.
The Ghana News Agency observed that the drainage system was filled with waste, especially empty plastic bottles and polythene bags, among others.
Ms. Felicia Adjetey, a resident, said there were a lot of challenges she faced due to the choked gutters from the mainstream that had made the front of her building stagnant and that she had to pay volunteers to work on it.
She reiterated that faecal waste sludge had been running through the drains for some time now, adding that due to how clogged the gutters were, whenever it rained, her room became flooded.
She appealed for desilting of the gutters for the mainstream to flow.
Ms. Adjetey urged the Assembly to help curb the predicament by elevating the containers built on the drains along the streets for an open space to help them embark on cleaning the gutters every week.
She reiterated that the deplorable state of the gutters had led to challenges such that those living in the containers along the drains didn’t have toilet facilities, hence they disposed of their waste into the gutters.
She added that the gutters along the streets had been broken down by heavy vehicles, and if the main drainage systems were desilted by an excavator, the residents would also gather the boys in the area to clean the medium ones to help curb such a situation.
“We have reported it to the Assemblyman during the early stage, he came and attended to the problem, but nothing has been done,” she said.
Mr. Dela Bruce, Assemblyman for Halcrow Electoral Area, also said that for some years the problems faced by the area, especially the sewer, were undesirable, and the gutters were choked with filth, plastic bottles, and others.
He complained that he had held a lot of meetings concerning this situation and also written letters with pictures as proof to the Assembly hence he expressed his excitement as the Municipal Chief Executive toured his Electoral Area to help address the challenges.
Ms. Anna Adukwei Addo, Municipal Chief Executive for Tema West Municipal Assembly, observed some challenges during her tour of the Electoral Areas in the Municipality, which included the poor state of the BBC Nursery School.
The Nursery School, built during Dr. Nkrumah’s regime, has its roof ripped off, among others.
Therefore, they managed to put the roof in shape during the rainy season to enable the teachers to teach for better understanding by the children.
“The problems can be solved if the residents are well educated on their responsibility as citizens, which would help curb these challenges,” she noted.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Chief Executive highlighted that now there have been stakeholder engagements; therefore, more education needed to be done because these practices were a result of human nature which we could not manage.
Ms. Addo emphasised that she would return with her team to engage the residents during the weekends to educate them in line with operation Clean Your Frontage, and if such practices continued, then the bye laws would be enforced as the Assembly would fine them.
She also stated that when she visited the area and the gutters were left unclean, she would impose a fine them, which would serve as a deterrent to the rest of the people as it was a bye law and hence the Assembly would enforce it.
“The bye laws stated that residents needed to clean their frontage, and if they refuse to do so, the Assembly has the right to fine them,” she reiterated.
She assured the residents of bringing excavators to help clean the choked gutters to fore-store these acquaintances because such challenges prone them to diseases.
GNA