Introduction
The Dome -St Johns road, is one of the satellite economic hubs of the Accra city, with rows and rows of shops, a busy bus station and an even busier market, that serves all the surrounding towns. The road itself is a very busy road that connects a lot of the suburbs in Achimota, economically the area contributes heavily into the government confers through the various tax payments levied on the shops, public transport drivers and the market women.
The Dome -St Johns road, is one of the satellite economic hubs of the Accra city, with rows and rows of shops, a busy bus station and an even busier market, that serves all the surrounding towns. The road itself is a very busy road that connects a lot of the suburbs in Achimota, economically the area contributes heavily into the government confers through the various tax payments levied on the shops, public transport drivers and the market women.
Observation
The hygiene level in certain areas of the city Accra, has always been very disappointing. The absence of conscience to the health risk, the poor state of hygiene poses has always been astonishing to me, yet the impact of the current situation is evident in the number of people you see every day at the hospitals with preventable disease and food poison.
The hygiene level in certain areas of the city Accra, has always been very disappointing. The absence of conscience to the health risk, the poor state of hygiene poses has always been astonishing to me, yet the impact of the current situation is evident in the number of people you see every day at the hospitals with preventable disease and food poison.
Statistics on the number of food poison cases in Ghana is very high and frequent and with fatalities occurring from such instances. Though the food and drugs board, the health authority and the environmental protection agency all do exist in the country, so little is achieved on the ground. From the length and brief of the city the state of environmental risk goes from bad to worse. The close proximity of the food and the filled up gutters with maggots is a thing of nightmare, yet you come across people queuing to buy food from these food vendors.
The impact of the poor hygienic environment has a direct impact on the cost attribute we incur as our yearly budget in the National Health Scheme, the uneconomic time wasted due to illness or visit to the hospital all have an adverse impact on the strength of our economy.
The amount of plastic pollution seen all around the place is disheartening especially knowing very well the economic benefit of recycling these plastics. there are companies around ready to buy the disposable plastics yet all around you seen them in the gutters, waiting for the rain to come and wash them away.
As most houses are more or less built without any planning and are over populated the toilets facilities around are not enough, as such some residence relieve themselves in plastic bags, wait until it is dark and come and drop it in the gutters, because the gutters are clogged up and stagnant this serious health hazard just stays where it was dropped and then starts festering with maggots.
When it comes to dust and it's hazard to health measure to be adopted is the number of people exposed and the potential risk to their health, in deciding through a cost benefit analysis weather with limited amount of resources a given area is to be prioritize as a high risk area that needs immediate assistance, I believe by this logic the Dome -St Johns road fits into this category.
In this report of the Dome - St Johns Road, we are going to show below evidence of the current state and make recommendation as to how the current state of affairs can be improved, needs to be improved.
Picture Evidence (click the picture to enlarge)
Solution:
The solution for some of the issues raised in this report is very straightforward to implement with reasonable cost incurred.
Without the provision of rubbish or recyclable bins around this dangerous health hazard is not going to go away, strategically placing the bins all around provides an avenue for the disposal of the waste without thinking the first option is to just drop it on the floor or in the gutter.
Providing different colour coded bins with signage for recycling is the first step in actually harvesting the rubbish and generating income from it. To ensure its effectiveness a levy or fine should then be introduce to help discourage individuals from throwing their plastic waste in the gutter rather than recycling it.
Daily and regular street cleaning would ensure the situation never gets as bad as it is now that is not waiting for a build up of rubbish and waste before acting upon it.
Portable toilet facilities can be provided and charged per-use which would then be collected each day and be replaced to ensure that the demand for the facilities is met and managed hygienically so it does not put residents off from using it.
1. Recycle bins to be strategically positioned for high patronage the use will reduce waste to landfill sites
2. Street cleaners, ensuring the town is kept clean
3. Portable toilets provided and it usage charged to help mange and run it
5. Watering the road daily can be costly, but until such time that the road is re-tarmacked the safety and well-being of the traders and residence must be considered and dealt with
Conclusion
The health problems raised in this report and the solution given if implemented would elevate the community from its present predicament. The risk of an epidemic is ever so present while the current situation is left how it is to the determent of the community, the local economy and the government tax revenue generation.
With already limited resources the community can not afford an outbreak of an epidemic and the solution makes it irresponsible for stakeholders to wait until such a scenario is manifested before taking action.
Think safety, lets all act now..
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