Re-organize Ghana’s environmental sector – CEPNR

The Centre for Environmental Protection and Natural Resources (CEPNR), on Friday called on the government to reorganise the environmental sector to address the sanitation problems confronting the country.

“Sanitation in Ghana has not received the necessary priority it deserves.  Good sanitation policies and practices that can significantly underpin socio-economic development have been ignored, “a statement issued by Stella Appah for the Coordinator of the Centre and copied to the Ghana News Agency said.

CEPNR said a study carried out by the Water and Sanitation Programme , said poor sanitation costs Ghana GH¢420 million each year, equivalent to $12 per person in Ghana per annum or 1.6 per cent of national GDP.

According to the statement the sanitation problem is getting out of hand.

“Our gutters are choked.  Wastes generated are not collected by the sanitation companies and states agencies responsible for our sanitation issues are inefficient.

“It is very common to see people urinating in drains, consuming food near choked gutters and garbage, indiscriminate littering of the streets and open defecation in drains.

“Aside the dangers associated with these behaviours, the stench from these dirty places is enough to confine anybody to the hospital bed.

CEPNR said the country should embrace the National Sanitation Task Force established by the President to tackle the national sanitation challenges confronting the country.

It noted that sanitation problems are threatening the very existence of human beings thus becoming a national security concern.

CEPNR is of the view that the attitude of Ghanaians is a major factor militating against the building of a clean and healthy environment.

“Poor performance of sanitation companies contracted to handle waste is also an additional factor.  Some companies have poorly paid workers who are not well motivated to work diligently.

“Containers for the collection of waste are left unattended to for weeks and ends up polluting the environment,” the statement said.

It called for effective monitoring of the activities of the sanitation companies to help reverse the situation.

The statement said the problem of sanitation is attitudinal hence the need for national education on the matter.

CEPNR is a non-governmental organisation that aims at promoting environmental and public issues.

Source: GNA