SANITATION IN TWIN CITY NOT THE BEST (PAGE 29)

Story: Kwame Asiedu Marfo, Sekondi

THE Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) continues to battle the problem of environmental sanitation in spite of the numerous measures put in place by the assembly to mitigate the problem.
Notwithstanding these measures such as increase in the frequency of lifting communal containers, door to door refuse collection, street sweeping,removing silt frommajor and minor drains, food hygiene education, as well as the arrest and prosecution of offenders, the environmental sanitation culture of the people in the metropolis is still unacceptable.
Records from the final disposal site showed that the total solid waste generation in the metropolis has not improved significantly.
The percentage of solid waste collection as of the end of March this year was 74 per cent and the uncollected waste in the metropolis stood at 26 per cent.
The assembly is currently in the process of awarding a contract for the collection of heaps of refuse all over the metropolis.
Liquid waste disposal service is being undertaken by the Twin-City, a private liquid waste contractor and other institutions such as the Prisons and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and supplemented with a rehabilitated cesspit emptier belonging to the Waste Management Department of the STMA.
Addressing the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly in Sekondi, the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Philip Kwesi Nkrumah, said the major problem had to do with the uncompleted land fill site at Sofokrom.
Nonetheless, he said, steps were being taken to complete at least a cell for liquid waste disposal to address the current practice of disposing it into the sea.
Touching on environmental health, Mr Nkrumah said the Environmental Health Management Department continued to deal with the sanitation issues in the metropolis through environmental health promotion and health protection, standard enforcement of food, drug safety and hygiene.
He said the department in the latter part of last year and early this year had inspected a total of 503 food joints as against 600 registered premises in the metropolis.
This, he said, represented 84 per cent coverage, while 104 hotels and guest houses were inspected. During the period, two restaurants, 15 new hotels and guest houses were inaugurated to operate in the year.
Similarly, he said, a total of 827 drinking bars were inspected as against 903 registered bars, representing 92 per cent coverage, whilst a total of 1,813 food vendors were also medically screened.
“There are two main slaughter houses in the metropolis, namely, Takoradi and Sekondi. The department has stationed environmental health officers at these houses who worked in close collaboration with vertinary officers to inspect carcasses daily to ensure the wholesomeness of meat to the markets”, he said.
He said at the Takoradi slaughter house, a total of  2,644 cattle, 6,395 sheep, 17,782 goats and 199 pigs were slaughtered, since the last session and that this generated a revenue of GH¢15,501.50 from a charge fee of GH¢1.00 for a cattle, GH ¢ 0.50 for goats, sheep and pigs.
In the same vein, he said, at the Sekondi slaughter house, 57 cattle, 629 sheep and 1,466 goats were slaughtered, generating a revenue of GH ¢ 1,020.50.