On 28th November, President John Dramani Mahama commissioned the Kasoa interchange Project. It was lit. A drone footage in the night casts the whole project.Barely three weeks after the commissioning, our team decided to visit the Kasoa interchange to access the project.
The first phase of the project is duly completed which has effectively resolved the traffic situation in the old market. Vehicles traveling towards Cape coast uses the overhead .Whereas the trotro and taxis use the ground route. I noticed work on the project has been stalled. A clear indication of a change in governance.This portrays lack of clear policy direction and weak institutions in our country Ghana.
We decided to move toward the taxi and lorry station. And here we found an environmental mess and potential death traps.The drains being constructed have turned into a dirty faecal pool of water. We observed some people use it as a toilet facility.
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Alongside is a deep abandoned drain chamber. Its deep and uncovered. why we would wait for a disaster before we take actions whereas we could prevent such? The drain has been very much littered with polythene and thence chocked. I can only imagine the intense of flooding in this area in a heavy downpour.
And this is an area of business activity.Now the question; Has those working around the zone any obligation to clean up? We asked the station master of the taxi rank who refused to speak on camera and he responded that “it is the work of the government to make sure the gutter is clean because they were doing the road not me”.
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At the lorry stations, the situation was no different. It is evident that these polythenes and plastics are as results of irresponsible behaviours of pedestrains and the city authorities on their part to curb the exacerbating situation. It must be noted however that no garbage bin has been seen anywhere in the course of this investigation.
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We decided to visit two major departments in the metropolis. First the Kasoa Urban council. The departments office is just around the roundabout. A visit to the department showed no activity of personnel and any commitment towards arresting the sanitary conditions of their environment.I must say it is more geered towards tax collection than ensuring a tidy and clean municipality.
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We then headed to the Kasoa polyclinic which is adjacent the urban council to have a look at the situational effects. It is obvious that Malaria which is a prevalent case at the Out Patients department could be avoided by active concern for tidiness and clean environment in the old kasoa market area. A visit to the Environmental health and sanitation unit of the hospital shows similarly lack of activity as the offices have been closed as at 10 am.
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Questions we need answers to:
1. Do our local institutions receive adequate funding from the national budget? It is clear in the fact that the institutions lack the logistics and personnel to curb the situation
2.Should Environmental service companies be contracted directly for municipal sanitation? Yes it should competitive and open to all to all other Environmental service companies in the country.
It is clear in the fact that institutions lack the logistics and personnel to curb the situation.Whereas Environmental companies should be involved,the selection of such companies should be competitive to ensure effectiveness in task.
Watch the video on the investigations here
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