We recently rightly commented about the approaching raining season and what to expect in Accra.
We did not envisage an extension of the negative aftermaths of the deluges outside the nation’s capital. Today, however, it is not only Accra which is experiencing floods during the raining season. Reports coming from the national capital indicates otherwise.
Unfortunately the situation we find ourselves in today as the raining season has arrived is that of hopelessness and helplessness. These are states occasioned by heightened irresponsibility by both citizens and the government.
In Accra today, many suburbs which previously did not experience floods are doing so because of the abuse of the environment by irresponsible citizens.
With no effective enforcement of bylaws, people get away with their irresponsible conduct of dropping garbage in open drains doing so with impunity especially when it rains.
A video of a polluted beach in Accra or Tema with tonnes of garbage rejected as it were by the ocean speaks volumes about our irresponsible relationship with the environment. If only our religious leaders could join the crusade to protect our environment from human abuse perhaps something positive could emanate from that.
God put us in charge of the seas and land but it does not look like we are doing a good and responsible job in this regard. The repercussions as it occurred on June 3, 2015 said it all about the punishment we suffered as a people…over 150 dead.
We have not learnt any lesson from that incident and continue to be on the tangent of irresponsibility under the supervision of the government.
Waiting for something negative to happen before government delegations proceed with NADMO relief materials to sympathise with victims does not sound right when simple enforcement of bylaws can obviate such tragedies.
The Atlantic Ocean appears to be telling us that, ‘I can no longer take this irresponsible conduct from you’ as it rejects assortment of garbage made up of non-biodegradable stuff…our beaches abound with such rejected garbage.
A picture of the beach of a city says a lot about the kind of people who inhabit the adjoining land.
Our citizenry cannot be trusted to keep their environments neat the outcome is the nasty pictures of our beaches which cannot qualify for postcards.
On a typical raining day in Accra sacks of garbage are dumped into the open drains. Such sacks are pushed to move further by others when they get stuck in front of their houses.
Considering the realities on the ground today, it is our opinion that something drastic must be done to address the construction of structures on waterways, failure to do which would keep us stuck where we are today and therefore, having to return to the same subject each time the raining season is with us again.
Our wetlands and mangrove swamps which are nature’s ways of checking floods have been encroached upon by developers of which dangle fictitiously acquired permits.
A policy initiative that would address the production of the great quantities of plastic materials used for industrial and domestic uses should be considered. These contribute immensely towards the floods which are noticeable especially at this time of the year.
Some countries across the world have embarked upon this journey following the pollution of their environment as a result of an over-reliance on non-biodegradable materials.