Over the years, poor sanitation has been a major challenge of many parts of Sunyani, the Bono Regional capital, a situation that has been affecting the residents in various ways.
Poor sanitation refers to inadequate systems for managing human waste and wastewater, leading to unsafe conditions and posing significant health risks. This can include a lack of proper toilets, inadequate waste disposal methods, and contamination of water sources.
As an Adolescent Journalist based in New Town, a suburb of Sunyani, I would like to express my thoughts on the issue and suggest the way forward.
Growing population
Sunyani is fast developing into a cosmopolitan area, with an influx of people from all around the country and other parts of the world into the city, thus increasing in the city’s population. One other reason that is accounting for the city’s fast-growing population is the operations of Newmont Ahafo South and Newmont Ahafo North mines. Hundreds of workers of these mining operations prefer to stay in Sunyani, which is centrally and strategically located between the two mines.
Due to the large number of people in the city nowadays, the designated landfill sites are stretched to their limits and so these sites are usually over-flooded since the amount of rubbish is beyond the dump sites’ holding capacity. This is a very sad situation because it can easily lead to the outbreak of various kinds of diseases in the area.
Waste disposal
Also, improper waste disposal is another cause of poor sanitation in Sunyani. Improper waste disposal refers to the wrong ways of disposing of waste. For instance, putting liquid waste and solid waste together in the same bin. People sometimes put liquid waste into bins meant for solid waste and this is very unacceptable
Again, some people dispose of their waste into rivers, streams and even run-off water, especially during the rainy season. This contaminates our water bodies, making it unsafe for consumption while facilitating the breeding of mosquitoes.
Effects
Records show that poor sanitary conditions contribute to the transmission of some diseases, primarily through contaminated water and improper waste disposal. Diseases usually associated with poor sanitation include cholera, dysentery, typhoid fever, hepatitis A, polio, and various diarrheal illnesses.
Additionally, inadequate sanitation can contribute to malnutrition and neglected tropical diseases like intestinal worms and trachoma.
Also, I strongly believe that poor sanitary conditions drive foreign investors away from a community because when an investor comes to see you in such an environment, he may reconsider his decision to invest in the area. The investor may soliloquy that: “if they can’t take care of our environment then they can’t take care of the investment”, hence he may return with his investment.
Way forward
To solve this, the following must be taken into consideration.
Firstly, the government must educate the public on the dangers associated with poor sanitation. This is because some people destroy the environment out of ignorance. A conscious effort aimed at conscientizing these people could go a long way to reverse the trend.
Again, environmental protection laws must be enforced. People who break such laws must be dealt with accordingly to serve as a deterrent for others.
Lastly, the government must adopt strategies to control high population growth in the country. This can be done by encouraging the people to adopt family planning methods to control population growth.
All of us have active roles to play in improving the sanitary conditions of the Sunyani. Let’s therefore come together to make the city one of the cleanest cities in the world. We can do it!
Article by Justice Kodzo Wiado, Adolescent Journalist, Sunyani New Town
