LANDLORDS DISPOSE OF HUMAN WASTE INTO DRAINS (THURSDAY, FEB., 28, 2008)

Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi

Some residents and people in the hospitality industry in the twin-city of Sekondi/Takoradi are connecting their septic tanks to the drains nearer to their homes and their places of operation.
Their action has become a nuisance to their neighbours and other residents of the metropolis. The reason for this development, according to some residents, is that there are no access routes to their homes for septic trucks to evacuate the waste when their tanks are full and so they have no option but to channel the tanks into the open drains.
While some landlords justify their action because of the lack of access roads, others claim they are doing so to avoid the high cost involved in contracting waste management companies to collect the waste from their tanks.
Whether the excuses the landlords are giving are justified or not, these activities are seriously polluting the metropolis, as the perpetrators have completely ignored the health implications of their actions.
The city authorities are worried about these developments as the people involved seem to ignore the effect that their actions will have on the larger society.
The Public Relations Manager of the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEMA), Mr John Laste, said the city authorities were not taking the issue lightly at all and that the assembly recently prosecuted some of the culprits. He said the health hazards associated with such acts had been disregarded.
“There must be a solution to every problem and it is wrong for anybody to say that because there is no access road to his or her premises, he or she must drain his or her human waste into the drains,” he said.
He said the waste tanker drivers who provided such services had hoses that could be joined to the premises of their customers to evacuate the waste and that it was strange and interesting that after realising the seriousness of their offence, the landlords came up with all sort of excuses.
“We have the support of some members of the public who are volunteering information on such activities to our environmental desk for action and I can assure you that in the heart of the capital, some hotels have been reported to us and we will soon descend on them seriously,” he said.
He used the opportunity to appeal to all city dwellers to report such activities to the assembly for action.
“We are grateful to those who are taking the initiative to report to us. We at the assembly cannot be everywhere all the time and, therefore, we cherish the support we receive from members of the public. They are one of the sources where we derive our strength,” he said.