WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF POOR SANITATION IN GHANA?

Ghana our beloved country is faced with a lot of challenges, but among all poor sanitation has exposed this country. The leadership of past governments, current and all Ghanaian has failed this country. It looks as if the institutions and the people who are put in place to solve these problems are either not serious or not capable.

STAGNANT GUTTER

For many years, we have failed as a country to deal with the increasing rate of poor sanitation which started some years ago, decisively, due to the explosion in urban population and migration and the advent of sachet water and other polythene wrappers. The whole of the country is faced with the mess of poor sanitation problems which is on the increase. This has given rise to all kinds of sicknesses and diseases from babies to the old age is spared with such sicknesses and diseases. The situation is very embarrassing and indeed worrying. It is a headache to all well meaning Ghanaian citizens the way we going about solving our sanitation problems. Take a stroll around the towns, cities, villages, etc and you will feel so ashamed, depressed and regret of being a Ghanaian due to the scenes of horrific insanitary conditions all over.

What should we do as a nation to address these ugly scenes which is created by we ourselves?, But this is a nice question every rational or rightful thinking Ghanaian will ask. Addressing the problem is not a major factor, even though we are not able to address it. It is rather to find the causes of the problem, by knowing the causes of the problem of poor sanitation, I think ninety-nine percent of the problem is solved. The problems are many, but to mention a few,  the departments, organizations, assemblies etc are not functioning properly. 

FILTH ON THE PAVEMENT AND THE STREET OF MAKOLA

There are no centralized places of disposing our refuse properly through out the country, the few places created are not taken care for it disposal, we the individual also play a part of poor sanitation since we litter everywhere with waste. Addressing of the problem, obviously is not the sole responsibility of a single individual, the assemblies, organizations, or the departments, been it government or private, it must be the responsibility of all of us as citizens because, it is we who create this menace ourselves. It is a fact that as a county we have taken things for granted due to bribery and corruption and politicizing everything been it good or bad, and this is killing us slowly, and if care is not taken we will finally die. Often people get  into authority just for the glorification of it and not to bring on board what to do and what not to do to transform life and society, some even go to the extent of not lobbying and fighting for appointments they know they are not qualified to handle, to do a better job. We are all sick in this country. For instance when there is outbreaks of cholera, Tuberculosis, guinea worm etc, disasters like fire outbreaks, floods, earthquakes etc we condemn it and make a whole noise for days weeks etc and we forget and then go back to the life style and attitude in which we were, which is causing the problems. We create waste and dispose them as if someone else will have to deal with that. There is hardly or not at all any sense of civic responsibility in what we have been doing. We deforest the forest anyhow without  planting tress to replace, burn rubbish and anything around us any how. We defecate on our beaches, river sides, pollute and choke our gutters, pollute our water bodies and litter our surroundings as if there are no laws.

A CHOKE GUTTER WITH ALL KINDS OF SOLID WASTE

ISOLATED FILTH AROUND

Residential areas are now turning into churches making the most noise, disturbing the neighborhood. We still build  open gutters that are hardly maintained and turn them into rubbish sites. What is going on? , what is wrong with us? It is a fact that we have a lot of infrastructure problems facing the country, but one can still clean it environment and sanitation can make a huge difference. So as Ghanaians we must change our attitudes and behaviors we must be concerned and willing to do anything possible to overcome this problem. In my opinion, whatever we are doing in this country in the name of improving the standard of living, education etc shall come to nothing when we cannot find solutions to basic challenges as poor sanitation. Not until we have discovered the antidote to the poor sanitation, we will continue to battle poor health and spend huge resources on fighting sanitation and its related diseases that can be prevented.

The korle-lagoon and other water bodies in the middle of our capitals and towns use to be fishing places where fishermen fish, eat, sell and take care of their families, these water bodies provide jobs for people, but what do we see today? In other parts of the world lagoons of such nature provides a beautiful sites for visitors and serves as tourist site which makes those countries earn foreign currencies. The korle-lagoon and other water bodies has been reduced to such an ugly and  horrible scene due to pollution. The site of which makes you feel like vomiting or committing suicide. This is our own making, yet we praise ourselves and say Ghana is the gate way to Africa. The second major issue is about our laws and the law enforcement agencies. I have no doubt that the law enforcement agencies are not short of laws necessary to keep us on our toes. The problem is that most of the laws are not enforced.  It looks as if the institutions that are suppose to work to enforce the laws are ‘on holidays’ and that is why we are seeing all these things.

We all have to be law abiding, everybody must work hard at where ever he or she works or finds himself or herself. We have to be responsible to change our attitudes and behaviors and the way we think. The institutions must work effectively, that is the only way we can realize our dream of being like America, Europe, Asia etc we have to educate ourselves and love Mother Ghana.