Most areas in the Kumasi metropolis in the Ashanti Region have been engulfed in filth, few days after the Christmas and New Year festivities.
Drains have begun choking at some areas including the Central Business District (CBD) of Adum, Alabar, Kumasi Central Market, Ashtown and other suburbs of the metropolis.
Refuse is seen scattered all over with residents and passers-by looking on unconcerned.
Although the monthly clean up exercise was observed as part of the National Sanitation Day (NSD) policy, garbage from drains in these areas are left uncollected-a situation that is worsening the sanitation conditions in the city.
Some traders and residents are intentionally dumping refuse into the drains without considering the consequences such practice might bring.
Traders, who dump into the drains, claim they are not provided with waste-bins to properly dispose the refuse.
Others are also defying the stench and filth emanating from the drains to sell their produce mostly foodstuffs.
The buyers are also turning a blind eye on the situation and patronizing the produce.
The situation at a big drain within the central market called ‘Abaobo station’ could be described as ‘dire’ because the drain is choking almost to the brim.
Children of some traders who sell along the drain are using it as a place of convenience to defecate openly.
A concerned resident is blaming city authorities for failing to effectively implement by-laws bothering on sanitation.
“The sanitation laws in the country are not working. So if people are not punished to serve as deterrents to others, the haphazard ways of dumping refuse will continue”.
He wants city authorities to step up their monitoring and supervisory roles to ensure that persons who flout sanitation laws are not left off the hook.
Another resident, who was equally unhappy about the poor sanitary conditions in the metropolis, also attributed the situation to the low attention paid to sanitation by-laws by city authorities.
Some persons have questioned the relevance of the National Sanitation Day exercise.
According to them, the policy instituted by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) to clean up cities on every first Saturday of a new month, has made little impact on addressing the sanitation problems of the country.
Members of the public have either paid less or no attention to the monthly exercise with some reading political meanings into the national policy.
Choked drains in the Kumasi metropolis have been resulting into flooding during rainy seasons-an incident that affected lives and properties.
Edmund Kombal, a KMA officer personally told me that dealing with filth in Kumasi is his responsibility. Edmund is also the officer responsible for noise control. I suggest you pay a visit to the KMA and ask for Edmund.