As yet another wave of flooding has hit Accra following the recent heavy rains, discussions have commenced again about the root causes – the very ones that extend not beyond the skies. While building on waterways and poor drainage systems are often cited as causes of flooding in Accra, one critical culprit continues to be overlooked – poor waste management.
In many neighborhoods, plastic bottles, sachet water wrappers, polythene bags and other forms of waste floated atop murky floodwaters. Why? It is because citizens pay less attention to littering, poor waste disposal, and ineffective waste collection mechanisms.
From Lakeside to East Legon Hills, Nima to Kaneshie, Circle to Teshie among others, residents watched helplessly as streets, shops and people’s homes transformed into temporary streams and rivers yet again. The flood incidents associated with loss of lives and property serves as a chilling reminder of the city’s deepening, and improperly addressed waste management crisis.
Accra’s Suffocating Drainage
Gutters, a fundamental component of Accra’s drainage systems, are often choked with non-biodegradable plastics and other forms of waste. This results from the careless activities of citizens including but not limited to littering and the deliberate dumping of waste into gutters. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, an estimated 80% of drain blockages in Accra are caused by improperly disposed plastic waste. The repercussions (flooding, loss of lives and property) of such actions and inactions of citizens are what we witness on wet days as these choked gutters, which are already limited in capacity, inhibit the free flow of rainwater.
Convenience at a Cost
Although single-use plastics which include sachet water rubbers, polythene bags and the likes are convenient to use, they pose to us threats that cost us lives, properties, and a wealth of resources. Many single-use plastics are not easily recyclable, thus consuming more and more of them only contributes more to the country’s waste management crisis – a key element that underpins flooding in Accra.
The Human Toll
In addition to the devastating consequences of displacing families, taking lives and damaging property, floods worsen sanitation conditions and pose health risks as it heightens chances of contracting waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid.
What Can Be Done
As the hub for environmental sustainability in Ghana, RUG strongly recommends that citizens take urgent and unified actions towards addressing the aforementioned fundamental causes of flooding in Ghana.
To specifically address the poor waste management crisis in Ghana, a prolonged nationwide waste education campaign is one of the ways forward as consistent awareness creation results in the desired behavioral change.
Another significant way forward to addressing the poor waste management crisis in Ghana is to promote and adopt the circular economy model of production and consumption as opposed to the linear economy model of production and consumption. The former would result in a decline in the quantity of waste generated as materials would be recycled and upcycled to prolong their lifespan. Adopting the circular economy model would eliminate the use of products like single-use plastics which cannot be recycled.
Also, effective waste collection mechanisms need to be implemented and well integrated into communities to help address waste disposal challenges, and littering.
A Shared Responsibility
Until Accra tackles its waste management problem head-on, the city will continue to drown not just in rainwater, but in the very waste it produces. To avert this impending man-made disaster, the onus lies on all citizens to take concerted actions now.
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