Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Egyeresia
Ngyeresia, a fishing community in Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Area is faced with serious socio-environmental problems that require immediate attention.
The community is faced with improper disposal of fecal matter in the community, inadequate toilet facilities, poor refuse disposal, and inadequate access to potable water.
Even though the community is located in the heart of the Western Regional Capital, the people had to fetch water from a stream that passes through the community due to the lack of adequate water supply.
Children are seen taking bath along this unhygienic stream and the toilet that serve the community was built in the early 1940s and had developed serous cracks in the walls as well as very bad roof.
The floors of the toilet where those responding to the call of nature would squat had developed serious cracks that are prone to explosion. According to the attendant, there had not been explosion because the floor was solid but described it as an eminent danger.
The attendants said the place was full to capacity and they had to close some of the pits for fecal matter to naturally go down.
This they said had resulted in the people of the community resorting to free-range, thereby, creating an unhealthy situation at the community’s stretch of beach where the some people sit to mend their nets for their fishing expeditions.
One of the serious aspects is that where the fecal matter or excreta spill out is where some women smoke their fish for public consumption.
The refuse disposal in the community is not the best, according to the residents, the communal container in the community with the inscription SAEMA was placed in the community more than a year.
They said the waste management department of the assembly had turned the blind eyes to the container after the dump it there yeas ago.
The container is full and had been half swallowed by the earth with the waste spilling all over. The community continues to dump there and that sometimes they burn or during the rainy season, the running waters sweep into the ocean.
Interestingly, the toilet and the refuse dump apart from been close fish smokers was also near the community school, and during dry season, the wind also sweeps it to the compound of the school.
Takoradi based, NGO, Friends of the Nation, (FoN) had secured some funding to provide the community with toilet to avert any disaster.
According to the Chief Executive of FoN, Mr Donkris Mevuta, the proposed budget for this six months project for the community was $29,825.
He said the counterpart contribution $5,974 and the FoN with the support, Co-operative Housing Foundation (CHF), an American NGO $23,851 to complete the project.
Asked, with the level poverty in the community if the people would be able to raise the counterpart funding to enable them complete the project, he said the funding could be provided in cash or kind.
“When we commence the project the community could decide to provide labour and other activities that we could quantify to the value of the required amount,” he said.
In the area of water, FoN would also provide the community with water kiosk to enable them store water when the taps run-out, this he said would stop the people from using the contaminated water that run through the community.
He said the community contract with regards to the projects had been developed and signed by all stakeholders for implementation.
Mr Mevuta said the community sanitation educational forum would be organised to educate residents on effective and sustainable waste disposal strategies and cleaner environment.
That aside he said there has been a dialogue meetings organized for residents of Ngyeresia and stakeholders for improved drains and relocation of the fecal matter disposal site from Ngyeresia organized.
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