Ghana media urged to focus on dangers of e-waste dumping
A Ghanaian journalist, Mr Emmanuel K. Dogbevi has urged his colleagues in the media to help focus the public’s attention on the problems of electronics waste (e-waste) dumping in the country.
Speaking in an interview with DanWatch, a Danish environmental action group, Mr Dogbevi, said the media in Ghana generally has not given much attention to the problems and health hazards that e-waste poses to the environment and human health.
Asked about how much focus the Ghanaian media has on the subject, he said the media shows what he describes as “intermittent interest in the subject when there is something huge on the subject.”
Mr. Dogbevi who is also the Managing Online Editor of ghanabusinessnews.com added that as far as he could remember, the last time the media focused on e-waste dumping in Ghana was in 2009 when there was an international event and a press statement was issued on the matter.
“I remember because I was interviewed by one radio station,” he said.
He said the low focus on the issue by the media has led to a general lack of knowledge of the dangers that e-waste poses to Ghanaians.
“The e-waste situation in Ghana has reached crisis point, it is a grave situation because of the very serious dangers that the poisonous chemicals contained in e-waste pose to the environment and human health and more importantly when the country’s health budget is mostly spent on malaria leaving nothing to be spent on other diseases,” Mr Dogbevi said.
In order to curb the menace, Mr Dogbevi called on government, civil society and the media especially to get involved in the campaign, adding that education, policy implementation and laws are the keys in dealing with the situation.
Mr. Dogbevi who has been writing about the environment in the past 12 years, began writing about e-waste in Ghana with his first article in the Daily Graphic on June 15, 2007. Since that first article, he has been waging a relentless campaign against the e-waste menace using mostly his articles. He has also created a Facebook Group called ‘Ghanaians against dumping of e-waste’.
Even though some inventory of the quantity of e-waste present in Ghana has been taken, it is not yet known how many tonnes of obsolete computers enter Ghana from Europe or the United States, but it is believed thousands are shipped into the country and a good number of these end up being dismantled and precious parts extracted for sale.
According to a report published by the Basel Action Network and the Silicon Valley Toxins Coalition titled ‘Exporting Harm: The Techno-Trashing of Asia’, between 50 to 80 per cent of e-waste collected for recycling in the United States is exported to developing nations such as China, India and Pakistan, where the environment is being polluted and local men, women and children are being exposed to toxins.
According to the European Environment Agency (EEA) more than 15,000 tonnes of colour television sets were exported from the EU to African countries in 2005. On average 35 tonnes, or more than 1000 units of used television sets, arrive every day in Ghana, Nigeria or Egypt.
“It would appear that the EU exports a significant quantity of used electrical and electronic products to developing countries that do not have an adequate waste management infrastructure,” the EEA report ‘Waste Without Borders’ concluded. “These are then probably subject to treatment that poses a threat to the environment and human health.”
Ghana, meanwhile is a signatory to the Basel Convention, which is the international convention against the trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes, including e-waste, the country has no localised legislation to deal with the problem.
By Ekow Quandzie