Huge Piles Of Garbage Discharged Into Gutters In Asylum Down
The suburb of Asylum Down centrally and strategically located in the Ghanaian capital is a showcase of the ignominy where people have converted the drainage system into a receptacle for solid waste.
The misdeed is usually committed in the dark of the night, only to leave sour tastes in the mouths of well-meaning citizens. The drainage system at Asylum down is part of the main system which constitutes the central spine in Accra.
The tendency to dump solid waste in open gutters designed for running water is the reason for perennial flooding in Accra whenever it rains.
On Thursday, January 19, 2023, GhanaReport sighted a consignment of disused takeaway packs deposited in the drainage, adding up to other solid material already there. At the time of taking pictures of the faux pas that characterizes many parts of Ghana, a man who was passing by tersely commented ”Oh Africa, it is only in Africa that this will take place”.
Apparently, he lived in the vicinity and that was his reaction to the new arrivals in the drainage system of the Asylum down. The area is part of ancient Accra and in close proximity to the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, a commercial beehive. The suburb which gained its name from standing closest to the Accra psychiatric hospital is one of the planned areas with decent buildings.
It has a long history of being the epicenter of most flood situations in Accra. In 1995, Accra witnessed serious, life-threatening floods that saw the then Head of State, Jerry Rawlings, and some state officials wade through the safer parts of the disaster scene in a symbolic show of concern.
The incident had rendered vehicles impassable and people displaced from their homes. In 2015, Ghana was to experience perhaps one of its worst disasters when flooding occurred at the Nkrumah circle, which is downstream. With the gutters already choked, it easily gave way to prolonged rainfall. It was coupled with a fire outbreak that resulted in the deaths of more than 80.
This appeared to be one of the greatest havocs ever to happen in Ghana, forcing in its trail a knee-jerk reaction which was the desilting of gutters. The largest proportion of debris was retrieved from gutters in Asylum down. Much earlier, the Member of Parliament for Korley-Klottey, Dr. Zanetor Rawlings, daughter of Jerry Rawlings had led a massive clean-up exercise of the area which attracted wide publicity but soon the solid wastes returned, out of indiscriminate dumping of garbage by faceless people.
GhanaReport can report that a lot of petty businesses line the drainage in Asylum Down, some of which are used in food preparation. One of them said, the unsightly conditions put off prospective customers. Is it any wonder that health professionals have continually stood alert for cholera outbreaks in a city like Accra where the malpractice is entrenched?