CLEAN ACCRA NOW

Recent occurrences on the waste management front in this 116 year old capital have riveted the attention of our nation and triggered consternation, shame and utter disbelief in any patriot concerned about our Republic’s image and the welfare of her citizens. Piles of garbage have been left unattended for weeks in various neighborhoods across the capital with its attendant aesthetic and nasal offensiveness, in addition to its related and crucially so, health risks. To make matters worse, the city authorities and government have been silent; proffering no explanation or succor for its hardworking, law abiding and taxpaying residents. The Ghanaian media and in particular, urban radio to its credit, has highlighted this matter.

The proximate cause of all this is the closure of the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant (ACRP) (http://www.modernghana.com/news/542454/1/accra-compost-amp-recycling-plant-closed-down.html) which is reportedly owed tipping fees by the Government of Ghana. In the event, the ACRP has struggled to perform its functions (this worsened in the last couple of weeks) at the optimum, crucial as it is in the waste management chain in Accra. The effect was a drastic slowing of the turnaround time of tipping trucks belonging to the Environmental Service Providers Association (ESPA) and with it the piling of garbage in the capital.  We have taken due note that the Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) has recently issued a cheque of 600,000.00 GHC to  defray part of its three year indebtedness to ESPA and ACRP. A lot of questions however remain unanswered. Why should this matter, which is so critical to the health, wellbeing and image of the historic city of Accra get to the brink? What were the AMA and government doing all along? Why was there such deafening silence for weeks over what is clearly a sanitation crises and very visibly so? What is happening to the taxes and all the tolls levied on Accra’s residents?

Uncomfortably, this crisis and the half-hearted response or lack of response explains quite vividly why Accra’s sanitation is so poor and badly managed. We note with shame and pain the fact that the Old Fadama Area which was once a wetland, has morphed into the “world’s largest e-waste dump.”   (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2014/feb/27/agbogbloshie-worlds-largest-e-waste-dump-in-pictures). 

Our capital Accra faces an ecological, sanitation and environmental nightmare about which we are concerned and demand decisive and comprehensive action. We the undersigned, citizens of Ghana and residents of our capital city on the 31^st of May, 2014, therefore petition the AMA, the Minister of Local Government, the Parliament of Ghana and the president of the Republic of Ghana on the following:

• We want a city that will rival and eclipse the order, cleanliness, beauty and livability of some of the noted cities of the world. In Africa an emergent Kigali is exemplar. To this end we demand a meeting with the Mayor and his full administrative staff including collections, procurement and monitoring units, all current contractors and service providers in waste and sanitation, DCEs for Accra, MPs for all constituencies in Accra, Assembly men and women and concerned citizens. The objective of this forum is to enable the mayor and the AMA to share- beyond press releases/conferences and radio sound bites- the real challenges and opportunities related to Keeping Our City Clean and enable architects, planners, environmentalists, artists, community groups, corporate Ghana, civil society and citizens to share their grievances as well as align on viable solutions going forward. As a requirement for and evidence of his commitment to delivering on a fundamental requirement of his task we the undersigned are prepared to work with the AMA to facilitate this forum to Keep Accra Clean by January 2015 as promised by the Mayor in his last press conference held on the 21^st of May, 2014. We envisage the holding of the forum in question on or about the 2^nd of June, 2014.

• We want Government to ensure that the ACRP and ESPAs are paid all the debts owed them to safeguard prompt, reliable and unencumbered waste collection and dumping across our capital.

• That the issue of dumpsites, which lie at the nexus of waste management in Accra, be given a thorough, comprehensive and fundamental review to anticipate future challenges and respond to them. In particular we urge that this review takes into account waste management at a more local level and in a more high technology and creative manner.

• The question of plastics needs to be addressed and immediately. Our beachfronts especially show the overwhelming deleterious impact of plastics on Accra and Ghana’s environment. We think that a ban should be placed, especially on the universal use of plastics / rubber for shopping for starters. This has been done in Kigali. Accra can learn from this example.

• The AMA should begin to enforce its own byelaws on sanitation and related matters and be seen to be doing so. Public pronouncements and intents grandiosely proclaimed ad nauseam should give way to measurable, concrete, verifiable action.