Accra, March 09, GNA – Mrs Sophiah Lissah, the Group Head of Communication of the Jospong Group of Companies has said that, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo’s vison of making Accra the cleanest city in Africa was possible.
« A clean Accra is possible. It is possible because once the will is there, then you would expect that power would back it so that we would be able achieve the excellence that we are looking for. To achieve that level of excellence and the vision that the President has, takes a gradual process. » she said.
Mrs Lissah said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at a public lecture organised by the African University College of Communication (AUCC) under the theme; « Urban waste management and water security: the role of government agencies and key stakeholders. »
She said waste generation was increasing due to the increasing population, urbanization and economic development.
She said managing waste in Ghana was a challenge because the estimated solid waste generation across the country was estimated at 13,500 tonnes per day.
Mrs Lissah said that, from 2005 – 2015 the volume of municipal solid waste generated daily in Accra increased from 1500-1800 tonnes. She said over 29 per cent of households in the country disposed their solid waste indiscriminately and into drains, curbs, open parks and streams, adding that, a clean Ghana could be achieved if punitive measures were taken against perpetuators of such acts.
« There should be something punitive to deter people from littering waste. If there is nothing punitive and we just do it and nobody cares then we can’t go anywhere. But there should be that punitive measures for people to say they don’t want to do it because they don’t want to be in trouble. »
She noted that, a holistic approach to involve all stakeholders was needed to tackle the menace. Mrs Lissah noted that, the private sector had a key role to play in the campaign and the government should support the private sector.
Mr Stanley Mantey, Public Relation Officer of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GCWL) said it was important for the country to manage her water bodies and improve on equipments used in treating water for consumption.
He urged the student communicators to take interest in environmental issues and educate the public to change their behaviours towards the management of the water bodies.
« Let us (communicators) be development oriented not political oriented and set the agenda. We have to come up with the issues that affect and impact on the lives of the people, » he said.
Madam Corrie Aziz, Executive Director of Environment 360 on her part said Ghana has failed in her recycling system. She said the heaps of waste in the country was an opportunity for the country to boost economic production by recycling the waste and thereby keeping the environment safe.
Mr Abdul-Malik Youssief, Course Instructor for Environment, Climate Change and Community Development at the AUCC said the programme was organised as part of the course requirements to give practical lessons to students.
« We brought in people from the industry who have practical experience in what they are doing with regards, » he said.
He said more of such lectures would be organized to give students practical lessons from real actors on the field rather than the usual theories in the classroom.
