THE African Development Bank is supporting the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to rehabilitate and expand the sewage system in the central business district of Accra.
The project, which is known as the Accra Sewage Improvement Project (ASIP),is aimed at reactivating the faecal (human waste) treatment plant near the Korle Lagoon to stop the emptying of human waste into the sea.
The disposal of the liquid waste into the sea has earned the area the envious name of ‘lavender hill’ because of the powerful scent coming from the area.
The seawater in the area has also become one of the most contaminated around the world and the authorities concerned are doing everything possible to prevent health hazards by having to reactivate the liquid waste treatment plant.
Mr Demedeme Naa, Head of the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, said a new human waste treatment plant had been envisaged as part of the project to complement the existing sophisticated plant which has been termed as the ‘white elephant”.
The new plant would use appropriate technology such as a stabilisation pond system for waste treatment and disposal in the Accra metropolis.
He said because of the sophisticated nature of the old treatment plant it was difficult to maintain and sustain it after the expatriate who built it in the seventies had left the country and ever since it had remained a ‘white elephant’
He said other areas the ministry was considering was the recycling of the waste into energy through the construction of incinerators.
He same private firms had been attracted into the country and discussions were ongoing with the government on the supply of electricity from the Volta River Authority to run the huge incinerators.
He said the human waste could also be turned into a resource by recycling it through composting for urban agriculture such as dry season gardening.
He said until these projects were off the ground the AMA had no option but to spill the human waste into the Atlantic Ocean which he termed as the lesser evil.
He said even though the health risks such as the disposal of pathogens into the sea for the fish to feed on was not the best, the digging of trenches for waste disposal was not cost effective since it involved refilling and spraying of the trenches to ward off flies.
Mr Naa called for multi-sectoral approach to solving the human waste disposal challenge in the country since one sector alone such as AMA could not undertake the onerous task single handedly.
He urged ministries such as Agriculture, Local Government, Health and Energy to pool resources and come out with a comprehensive policy that would attract more investors into the waste management sector of the country.
A visit to the communities around the ‘lavender hill’ revealed that flies have invaded the area.
Mrs Ama Takyiwaa who spoke to the Daily Graphic said flies from the spillage site, after feasting on the faecal materials directed their attention to the households where they settled on every thing, including cooking utensils, clothes being dried on lines and ended up soiling their laundry.
The butchers’ shops in the area have become an eyesore as flies struggle to settle on the beef, mutton and offal being sold in them.
Mr Mumuni Barko, a butcher in the area, said he had to use repellents such as mosquito coils to ward off the flies which invaded the area in their numbers. The vibrant market in the area has also been deserted by most traders as people have stopped patronising it for fear of being infected by a dangerous disease.
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