On 4 April 2012 GhanaWeb reported: “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has expressed concern over the growing nuisance of noise pollution, particularly in the Kumasi Metropolis. Dr Francis Nyagbanu, Ashanti Regional Chief Programmes Officer, said the agency is inundated with complaints from the public and vowed to deal with the unhealthy situation”.
“Addressing a stakeholders meeting in Kumasi, he said, substantial proportion of cases they received, last year, were noise-related. He identified the churches, information centres, pubs, bars and mobile advertisement as the major offenders. He said the Agency has worked out strategies to restore some level of sanity”
Dr Nyagbanu please tell me, what happened to those strategies which you said would “restore some level of sanity”?
Dr Nyagbanu please tell me, what happened to my written complaint of 14 January 2015 addressed to the Regional Director (EPA Kumasi) about noise pollution which was hand delivered by my wife and I to the Kumasi EPA office?
Dr Nyagbanu please tell me, why you were nominated as the officer who would handle my hand delivered complaint?
Dr Nyagbanu please tell me, why an officer of the EPA (Kumasi) blatantly lied to my wife and I when we hand delivered the complaint letter by telling us action would be taken within a matter of days and that EPA members would come to our home to validate our complaint?
Dr Nyagbanu please tell me, why no one has come to our home and why no action has been taken by the EPA, in the two months since you received our complaint?
Dr Nyagbanu please tell me, why when I spoke to you on the phone in January 2015 you told me that the EPA deals with the “long term”?
Dr Nyagbanu please tell me, what do you mean by the “long term”?
Dr Nyagbanu please tell me, would you consider almost three years to be the” long term” or does the EPA need more years to be able to respond to my complaint and that of others about the “unhealthy situation “of noise pollution?
Dr Nyagbanu noise pollution is blasted into our home every day of the year. It vibrates in our bedrooms, wakes us up and stresses us terribly. We suffer seven hours or more every day of the year from the” unhealthy situation” of noise pollution from the local information centre, unless the power is off. But you know this Dr Nyagbanu. I was told my letter of complaint went to you. According to GhanaWeb, you did “vow to deal with the unhealthy situation” of noise in Kumasi.
Dr Nyagbanu please tell me, how many more years does the EPA need to “restore some level of sanity”?
Dr Nyagbanu please tell, me what is your strategy now to deal with my complaint? I was told by an EPA officer that you are the contact person to handle my complaint. The EPA officer even wrote your name and phone number in my notebook.
Dr Nyagbanu, I look around Kumasi and see massive noise pollution, and other pollution. Could you please tell me what is your strategy now to deal with the noise pollution, and how and when you intend your “vow” to be implemented?
Dr Nyagbanu, I have looked at the GHANA EPA AKOBEN PROGRAM. Does your region ever use this and if so, could you please tell me where I could find that latest report? I ask this even though the naked eye, blocked nostrils and common sense tells even the most humble of us that Ghana and its people suffer from extensive pollution issues.
Dr Nyagbanu please take action, please keep your vow, please help my family and I and all the others in the region who suffer the unhealthy effects of noise and other pollution. The physical and mental health of my family and I and all peoples in the region are depending on you. Please keep your “vow”!
Dr Nyagbanu I remind you of the following:
On the Government of Ghana Official Portal, Mrs Philomena Boakye Appiah, Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has reiterated the need for strict adherence to environmental regulations and guidelines on noise pollution for the well-being of the people. Mrs Appiah said, “research shows that noise pollution was a risky health hazard and a silent killer, which could induce hypertension and cause blindness. She said noise pollution causes irritability and indigestion and adversely affect the foetus of pregnant women”. http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/2012-02-08-08-32-47/regional/3050-noise-pollution-is-dangerous-health-hazard-epa
On another website The Regional Director disclosed “that noise pollution could cause
deafness, blood pressure, indigestion, heartburn, ulcers, heart disease, mental illness, fatigue, damages in the nervous system, increased stress/ irritation, decrease in efficiency at work places, sleep interference, decreased academic performance and indirectly weakens the edifice of buildings and bridges”. http://www.ghanadistricts.com/news/?read=40349&sports
The most dramatic effects are in heart disease, because exposure to noise can kill people. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20326-noise-kills-and-blights-lives-in-europe.html#.VKol6tKUfVD
Changes in the immune system and birth defects have been attributed to noise exposure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_from_noise
Effects of noise in pre-school and school aged children include cognitive tasks are impaired, like reading, long term memory, attention and motivation. http://www.who.int/ceh/capacity/noise.pdf
Noise can pose a serious threat to a child’s physical and psychological health, including learning and behaviour. http://www.epa.gov/air/noise/ochp_noise_fs_rev1.pdf
Oh, and one more question Dr Nyagbanu, what is the EPA strategy to deal with all the other pollution in the region, and what time frame are you anticipating; the “long term”, again?
If I remember correctly the Ghana EPA has been in existence, in its various forms, for more than forty years. Is forty years considered to be the “long term”?
