Sunyani Faces Serious Sanitation Crises

Sunyani, the Brong Ahafo Regional capital is currently facing dire sanitation crisis, with a number of choked drains, indiscriminate waste disposal and uncollected refuse in central waste containers scattered in the municipality. There are growing fears of an impending outbreak of cholera in the Sunyani Municipality as the sanitation situation has not been at its best in recent times. Their fears have been heightened by the Municipal Assembly and Zoomlion�s in ability to lift refuse containers from designated sites to the final disposal sites. Checks done by the New Crusading Guide revealed that, for about two weeks refuse at collection sites have not been lifted, leaving containers overflowing with refuse, a situation which has allowed some residents to also take advantage of the situation to litter around by dumping refuse at unapproved areas. The concern of the people is that with the recent outbreak of cholera in the country which the Brong Ahafo region has had its fair share with over 30 deaths recorded, the bad sanitary condition in the Municipality might lead to a serious outbreak. Some residents interviewed by this reporter were of the view that bad sanitary practices in some parts of the Municipality coupled with the authorities� inability to ensure the carting away of refuse containers, which had been grounded for weeks at vantage points, might lead to an outbreak. Mr. George Manu who is in charge of waste at Zoomlion revealed in an interview with a local Radio station that, the road leading to the final disposal site has become inaccessible, following some heavy rains in the municipality. This according to him has made it difficult for Zoomlion, managers of waste in the municipality to perform their duties. Mr. Simon Opoku, Municipal Director of the Environmental Health and Sanitation Department confirmed the report and added that the municipal assembly was working seriously to get the road in good shape for Zoomlion to perform their core mandate of collecting and managing waste in the municipality. However, residents have expressed doubt at the Assembly�s commitment to ensure proper sanitation in the municipality. The reason cited for this mistrust is that, the road leading to the final disposal site has not been in good shape for years and that it has become an annual ritual when the rains set in as the road becomes so bad that, cars are not able to ply it. The residents urged the assembly to show commitment in resolving this annual ritual by finding a lasting solution to the problem.