POOR SANITATION IN TWIN-CITY (PAGE 29)

Street corners in the twin-city of Sekondi/Takoradi continue to gather filth and heaps of sand despite the large number of waste management companies handling waste in the metropolis.
The problem has largely been attributed to the fact that the metropolis has not been properly zoned for the various waste management companies.
Heaps of sand in some parts of the metropolis at the moment are up to the pavement level and when the wind blows or heavy duty trucks drive past, dust enters the eyes of pedestrians.
At the moment, the problem with who is responsible for what areas that have been allocated to sanitation workers of the assembly are very dirty because they do no quality work due to the lack of equipment. One of the most unsightly area of the metropolis is the stretch of road between the Paa-Grant roundabouts towards Sekondi through Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital.
There is a heap of sand on the street and the private contractors are blaming the metropolitan assembly for the mess.
Interestingly, the assembly’s sanitation workers do not collect the heaps of sand from the streets. They only sweep the dry leaves.
The assembly claims it does not have the capacity to manage the sanitation situation and is also slow in zoning the metropolis among the private contractors.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the acting Regional Operations Supervisor of Zoomlion, Mr Geshun K. Dogbey, he said those unsightly areas were not part of his outfit’s operational area.
He said although they operated at the central business district, the company had assumed responsibility for some areas which were not under its control.
The supervisor said the attitude of the public was not helpful.
“Because of the negative perception that waste management companies are responsible for waste collection and disposal, the public have resorted to indiscriminate disposal of their domestic waste,” he said.
He said considering the amount of waste that was generated daily in the metropolis Zoomlion decided to run three main shifts — morning, afternoon and evening.
Mr Dogbey said even with that arrangement the problem was still far from being solved because after the workers got to some point in their sweeping the waste that would have accumulated behind them where they had already swept would astound anybody.
He said waste management had advanced and required technological innovations and change in attitude to combat it.
“We have introduced domestic plastic refuse containers in communities and have scheduled times for their collection at a very small fee,” Mr Dogbey said.
Those around populated areas in and around the CBD have started using the communal containers placed at the Takoradi Central Market.
He said before the market women arrived at the market in the morning the containers were almost full, but all the same, the company made sure that the containers in its designated operational areas did not overflow.
The supervisor said as part of Zoomlion’s corporate social responsibility, it had turned attention to the beautiful beaches along the city and other parts of the region.
“We have realised that apart from the solid waste, some beaches have also resorted to the use of the beaches as places of convenience because of non-availability of toilet facilities in some of the communities along the coast, ” he said.
Mr Dogbey said Zoomlion had undertaken several hours of clean-up exercises at the Fonko Beach and presented and supported the assembly member for the area financially to complete a public toilet for the community.