Ghana government asked to find alternative to plastic menace

Participants at the 30th Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) conference have tasked government to urgently find solutions to the plastic menace to save the environment and its associated health hazards to humanity.

Some of the participants wondered why Ghana was first in signing conventions and other international treaties but lagged seriously behind on issues of sanitation, health and hygiene.

Mr. Patrick Apoya, the Group CEO of SkyFox Limited a WASH company who spoke on “Improved Sanitation and Health”, said achieving adequate and equitable access to water and sanitation for all by 2030 could be hampered through such bad environmental practices.

This year’s conference, dubbed: “MOLE XXX centred” on “30 years of Multi-Stakeholder WASH Dialogue: Reflections and Prospects” with sub themes including, ‘Drinking Water and Integrated Water Resources Management’, ‘Improved Sanitation and Hygiene’, ‘Governance and Institutional Development’ and  ‘Technology, Innovations and Private Sector participation’.

He said, plastics 10 years ago, contributed only seven percent but now exceeded over 40 percent in the waste stream, and that called for urgent solutions.

Mr Apoya expressed the regret that the 500 kilometre coastline could only boost of plastics instead of beautiful shores for tourism and income generation.

Dr. Stephen Ntow, Director of WASHealth Solutions who spoke on ‘Governance and Institutional Development’, mentioned that good governance in the sector was needed to progress towards the 2030 target of the SDGs.

Mr. Ben Yaw Ampomah, the Executive Secretary of the water Resources Commission said improving sanitation and hygiene was key in addressing pollution of water sheds, saying, “We need sustainable WASH management practices”.

He said good hydrogeological information on water supply could aid in planning and service delivery.

Source: GNA