Sanitation workers preparing to clear the rubbish
Some residents of Takoradi have lamented that the area might experience cholera outbreak and other filth-related diseases again.
This is because the Takoradi Market Circle, which is the central business district (CBD) of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, has become a garbage dumping ground.
They have, therefore, expressed displeasure about the incessant dumping of refuse and sometimes human excreta, specifically near the Takoradi main market currently under reconstruction.
They claim that every morning, rubbish collected from various homes and other areas in Takoradi are dumped at that particular place for hours before being transferred to a final dumping site.
Traders around the area indicated that it is an eyesore to observe people who reside in the CBD also disposing of their wastes at that place.
“As early as 6:30 am each day, that particular spot in front of the former Market Circle Police Station is filled with garbage.
“This is as a result of non-availability of waste containers in the area. So the place has now become a dumping ground, where the indiscriminate disposal of waste and filth is now the order of the day,” they asserted.
When journalists visited the area at about 7:30am yesterday, it was revealed that there was no container available for the market women, who trade at the place, to dump their waste.
As a result, the market women, who had refused to relocate to makeshift market created for them due to the reconstruction of the main Takoradi market, and passers-by had no other option than to dispose of their waste on the ground.
“This place has been turned into an open waste disposal centre, where everyone comes to dump their waste.
“We do not know when the waste, which is stinking, would be cleared from this place where brisk business takes place,” they lamented.
STMA Reacts
The Public Relations Officer of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA), John Laste said the assembly held some meetings last week to find permanent solution to the challenge.
He disclosed that the problem can partly be attributed to the recent relocation of about four waste containers serving the market circle.
He said, “The situation has been compounded by the activities of ‘junkies’ around the area.”
“We are planning a comprehensive programme to deal with the issue of waste and congestion within the CBD,” he added.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi